Like Oprah, but for poor people.

I’m not sure if she still does it, but Oprah used to do a thing where she picked all of her favorite things for the year and then did a show about them. I was thinking of doing the same thing, except instead of things that millionaires love, it would just be things that make me happy that I spent an extra few dollars on. Mostly because every time I use these things I think “Holy shit, I’m so glad I have this and I wish I could give this stuff to everyone in the world.” I can’t though, but what I can do is tell you the stuff that I’ve been happiest about finding and you can do the same thing in the comments and then we can all find awesome cheap or free stuff that we love. Also, this post isn’t funny. Sorry if you were coming here for that. But to make it up to you I’m giving away a gift certificate with enough on it to buy pretty much everything I’m going to talk about. (As long as you live in America. If you live somewhere that doesn’t have Amazon I’ll just paypal you the amount.) Also, I’ve been given absolutely no compensation to write this and the people and products I’m writing about have no idea I’m doing this and some might actually be sad for having been linked back to such an irreverent band of misfits, but they can just suck it because I love them anyway. The bastards.

So, things I love that are worth spending money on or that are totally free anyway:

Allie Brosh. Her blog is fantastic and free and she has a book coming out in a few months which is wonderific. She sent me a copy and I literally shot juice out of the hole in my stomach from laughing so hard. I also told her she could use that as a blurb. Because I’m a giver.

J. R. Watkins Coconut Sugar and Shea Body Scrub. I have super dry skin and this exfoliates with sugar and then the shea butter stays on your skin. It’s the only thing that doesn’t disappear immediately on me. (You can usually get it way cheaper at Target.)

A bath sheet. It’s like a towel, but bigger, and when I dry off I feel like I’m at a fancy hotel drying off using the duvet (until laundry day when my two bath sheets are in the wash and I have to use a beach towel.) I’ll know that I’ve finally “made it” when I can afford a whole set.

Neuro Sleep. I have no idea what’s really in it but it makes me sleep better than rum, and that’s saying a lot. I have one every few nights and my insomnia has gotten slightly less horrific.

TARDIS Beach Towel. I know. Two towels in one list? Who needs that many towels?Me and Douglas Adams. That’s who. (You can sometimes get this cheaper on ThinkGeek.) The awesome things about this is that when you’re at the pool you can tell all the cool, slightly nerdy people who will be fun to sit by because they all go “OHMYGOD, I WANT THAT.” The other people look at you like you’re a total dork. It’s okay to pee in the pool if you’re standing near those people.

Little Snowie Shaved Ice Machine. It’s pricey at a little over $200 but we’ve used ours almost every day for years and years. We don’t buy the syrup because it’s expensive but we eat them plain, or with fruit juice, or with booze drizzled over the top. My favorite is Amaretto and Chamboard when we’re flush, or Strawberry Hill when money is tight. Also, when it’s really hot you can make a laundry basket full of shaved ice, put on your bathing suit, and have snowball fights in the yard. Our neighbors hate us.

Neil Gaiman. I’m a voracious reader and could probably write a million paragraphs on all the books you should read, but I’m most grateful for the day (a million years ago) I went into the comic shop and was disappointed to find the latest issue of Strangers in Paradise hadn’t arrived yet. The guy behind the counter looked at me as if to size up my worthiness and after a few seconds came out to introduce me to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. He had me start on book 4 (Season of Mists) and I devoured it and reread it 20 times until I could save up enough to start from the beginning and collect them all. Sandman is my Catcher in the Rye and it saved me from a dark place by showing me I wasn’t alone. I owe that guy behind the comic counter more than he’ll ever know.

The Suicide Hotline. I realize this is a weird one, but I struggle with mental illness and one day I had urges that I was really afraid of. My shrink wasn’t answering and I was afraid I was really going to hurt myself. The girl on the other end of the line listened and gave me actual pointers on how to avoid the self-harms issues I was struggling with. I still use those coping mechanisms she gave me. It saved me from myself, and it was free.

Jenny Lewis in all her incarnations. People are rediscovering her now and that’s awesome. My ideal party would be me, her, Amanda Palmer, Regina Spektor and Miranda Lambert all in my bathroom with a karaoke machine and a bartender and some illegal fireworks. Rabbit Fur Coat is one of those CD’s I buy over and over because I always lend it out to people when they’re struggling. This song as well is rather healing for me.

Stephen Parolini ~ His blog is Counting on Rain and he’s one of my favorite writers ever. He writes amazing, dark, beautiful short stories for free. He doesn’t post often, but when he does it’s always something incredible.

Levar Burton explaining how not to get shot by the police. Yeah. This one isn’t a happy one, but I used this dozens of times this week to help people explain that just because you don’t see racism doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. There were lots of othergreat commentaries out there this month, but there’s something about the guy who raised us on Reading Rainbow talking about his fear for his life that makes most people at least pause and think a bit about the world as it is, and as we want it to be. And that’s a good thing.

Independent book stores ~ It’s ironic that I’m linking to Amazon here for everything, because Indie book stores are my kryptonite. Not only do they have awesome, weird stuff that you won’t find in mainstream stores, but they also are amazing resources for readers who need suggestions. You can sometimes make friends with your local book-monger and ask them to compile a reading list for you based on your likes. Their books are sometimes a bit pricier, but it’s worth the extra few dollars and if it weren’t for Indie Book Sellers my book wouldn’t have nearly as loud of a voice.

What Should I Read Next. You know when you read an amazing book and you wish you could find another similar to it but you can’t? Well, now you can. Type in the book you like and “What Should I Read Next” will give you a list of books similar to that one.

Doctor Who. You either hate it, or it changes your whole life and you spend nights waiting for David Tennant to tell you that you’re the key to saving all the kittens in the universe. It’s ridiculous and silly and requires an enormous willing-suspension-of-disbelief, but some of the most beautiful moments on TV come from Doctor Who. You can watch it for free on Netflix. Start with the 2005 reboot. Watch through episode 10. If you don’t like it you can at least say that you tried and now you can spend your free time looking for the soul that you seem to have lost.

Microwave slippers. I have arthritis so my feet hurt a lot. I pop these in the microwave and slip them on in bed to sleep in when I’m having a super rough day. I feel ancient just typing this but I can’t live without them during the winter.

Okay, your turn. What have you discovered that you now can’t live without? Just leave it in the comment section and at the end of the week I’ll pick one random person to get a $350 amazon gift card so you can buy everything on this list. Except Neil Gaiman. You can’t buy a person. That’s illegal, you guys.

UPDATED: Alright, it’s the end of the week and I usually just send an email to the person who wins or announce it on twitter, but when I read the comment selected by my random number generator I really felt I needed to share it.

From Dangerous Lilly: I don’t think I have a shot at winning it, but if I did I wouldn’t keep the gift card. I’d give it to my best friend. Because she’s amazing, and life handed her a big bag of suck lately, so she’s always on the brink of poor but can’t do a thing about it til after her transplant and her kids drive her nuts half the time. So yeah. I’d like to give her something awesome but she won’t let me if it’s from my own pocket. I have things that make me happy, that I can’t live without, and most of them cost money so…. I’d rather share the love.

A few years ago, I brought a Neo by Alphasmart–basically, it is a light weight keyboard with a really primitive word processor. It allows me to type up stories without be distracted by all the other stuff on my computer (including the internet), and then plug it in to transfer the file to my regular word processing program for clean-up. I get a lot more writing done with it that I do without it. And as a writer, that counts for a lot.

Commentary tracks and special features on DVDs and Blu-Rays. I just LOVE to see how movies are made and wish I could be in the business. They just make the movies far more interesting to watch. Also IMDB.

My mortar and pestle. I bought one because I thought it would be fun and old-school, but once I got to grinding basil and garlic, I realized I would never go back to buying pesto. I’ve also ground herbs for a scented bath, sunflower seeds and oil to make sun-butter, and much, much more.

Well, I love Allie Brosh. I was sad to hear about all her struggles and was so sad when she disappeared from the internet for a while. Excited to read her book. I’m also a new mom and can hardly live without my ergo baby carrier.

Not that this is a recent discovery, but I can’t live without the library. Free books & movies & a quiet place to escape from everything is my saving grace some days. I love your blog and appreciate your honesty and humor.

Nalini Singh and both of her wonderful book series Psy-Changelings and Guild Hunters. SO much to read and ponder! Other than that, my prescription migraine med, which basically gave me my life back when it was invented because I *finally* had something effective to take.

Fancy school supplies – it doesn’t matter the brand or the store. I just love back-to-school when I can get a matching notebook, folder, planner, pen, pencils and pencil case. (Yes, I was THAT GIRL in middle school.)

My brother’s camera. I know, it’s not technically mine, but I’ve used it exclusively for three years, as he never has the time to do so. It is my zen, my happy, my ‘where I go to shut up all the depression and stress and worry’. I literally never leave the house without that massive, heavy camera bag. It lets me see the world in a way so many don’t. There’s so much beauty out there.

I can’t live without Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmer in Watermelon. I love the color and it has a hint of mint that keeps my lips feeling cool. My other favorite thing is Ticonderoga Beginners pencils. They’re the big ones meant for little kids just learning how to write, but I like to use them to underline important passages in books I’m reading or making quick notes.

Terry Pratchett books. I was in a really bad place and the wry, funny humor in the Discworld series gave me a nice place to go when it got dark. If it would help, I’d give my brain so he didn’t have Alzheimer’s anymore.

I can’t live without my Kindle. I had an e-reader before the Kindles became available in Canada, and then my husband bought me one for Christmas last year. I friggin’ love the fact that I can get awesome books for free or for like $2. I got Neil Gaiman’s “The Graveyard Book” for, like, almost nothing! And then I was super sad when it was done. But not as sad as I was when I finished “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”. Wait. When did this become about Neil Gaiman? Anyway. I love that I get to buy books at 3am from the comfort of my bed. My husband loves that I won’t have to buy another bookshelf for awhile. I ? Kindle. (Screw you, KOBO! – the Canadian version of Kindle. And like all things Canadian, it’s more expensive than the American version and there’s never any cheap books. :p) Ps – I also have a large bath sheet and it’s glorious! Actually I have 2 and I refuse to share either one with my husband.

The movie Pitch Perfect I’m way older than their target demographic but it’s proven a great distraction to my darker demons more than once. Also, I can quote it so my 14 year old niece thinks I’m awesome.

I’m been hooked on flax seed, anything with flax in it I want…weird I know. I also love shelfari, it’s like facebook for books, you’re able to post books you’ve read and books you want to read while interacting with other avid readers. Now thanks to you I’m digging “What should I read next?” , in addition to those microwaveable slippers … I need them !

My public library. I LOVE to consume pop culture, but totally don’t have the budget to do so at the rate that makes me happiest. My library gets me books, DVDs, music CDs, magazines, and now ebooks and audiobooks that I can download. ALL FREE. Yay libraries!

The internet. I know that sounds silly, but what I really mean are the friends I have made through my computer machines. There are people that I talk to EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. that I have never met in real life, and they know more about me and care more about how I really am than most of the people I am related to. I’ve never had a lot of friends in real life, for various reasons, but the people that I have met online make me realize how fantastic it can be to have people in your life who actually care about you.

Also, ice packs. I was in a serious car accident awhile ago that may-or-may-not have given me a hairline fracture in one of my cervical vertebrae. Ice packs are the only thing that keep me able to sit up straight some days.

Kevin Smith’s movie “Dogma.” It’s irreverent and hilarious and heartfelt and is in my top three favorite movies of all time, and it’s my go-to when I’m having a miserable day. Also, Alan Rickman as the voice of God. When I got divorced my ex took all the Kevin Smith movies we had with him, and I didn’t even wait 24 hours after he was out of the house to re-stock.

The New York Times Latest Stories app for my Kindle — one month for $1.99. I will never be bored waiting for anything again. When I lost my regular Kindle, I decided to upgrade to a Fire. Got it and discovered the NYT Latest Stories subscription is only available on the cheapo Kindle. For the Fire, you have to buy the whole thing for $19.99 a month. So I did the logical thing: Spent $43 to buy a new cheapo Kindle!

I agree with you on the bath sheets! Love them! Add to that a towel warmer (during winter, of course) after a long soak in a bubble bath… BLISS! as a mom of 2 1/2 year old twins, those quiet moments are a gift!

I’m so happy to see microwave slippers on your list! I have the same ones because I have chronically cold feet and metal instead of bones in one of my ankles and these are a life saver. My partner refuses to look at me if I have them on. Its something about his grandma and the eucalyptus scent, but whatever they’re amazing and I don’t care.

This probably sounds obvious… y’know coming from me… but Goodwill. Thrift stores in general but mostly Goodwill. Every time I step in there and smell the funk of two-thousand other people’s discarded footware I get a big ol’ grin on my face. I collect vintage kid’s stuff like toys, those glasses with McDonalds characters on them, comic books, and just about anything else I can remember from my childhood. I also spend HOURS poring over the book section. It’s where I found David Wong’s “John Dies at the End” and “This Book is Full of Spiders” for 1.99 apiece. I did NOT find “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” because let’s face it no one’s giving that shit away for free. No one’s going to let someone pry that book from their cold, dead hands. Goodwill is this cheap, second-hand paradise that I go to about once every two weeks and I comb through it like I’m a CSI person, looking for semen. Never mind that if I were actually looking for semen and had the tools to do so… I probably would find some. I look for old action figures and Little Golden Books, and happy meal toys.

It turns out that I can’t live without heated seats in my car. I never in a million years would have predicted that because, Texas, and also it’s ridiculous. I took them under protest when I replaced my 12 year old car. Who knew that heated seats in a car were the cure for an achy back?

My dogs. I know that’s sort of a given, but words really cannot express how much they mean to me. I’ve had dogs my whole life, and will continue having dogs, but the two I have now are different somehow. When I’m happy, they make me happier. When I’m sad, they let me squeeze them and make the sad go away. When I’m making the bed, they jump in the middle of it and pester me until I laugh and get nothing done. When I’m recovering from surgery, they lay beside me and DON’T sleep. They just stand guard, still, silently, until I’m up and around again. I know that they live short lifespans, naturally, and it’ll break my heart when they leave me, but I’ll never regret the moment they became my pack, and I’ll love them until the day I die. They’re part of what has made my life truly good and the thing I look forward to EVERY day.

Firecracker Bar fro Chuao- dark chocolate, chipotle pepper, sea salt and POP ROCKS
Pandora – for fun
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab – Hell’s Belle is my fav. They also have a whole line based on Neil Gaiman books
World of Warcraft – I know it’s a game but I’ve made lots of good friends while playing
Cartoons
Kindle books

It’s not a material thing, but my cat. He’s the loviest, sweetest thing ever. I wake up every morning with him beside me in the same spot, and sometimes he cuddles underneath the blankets with me. He misses me when I’m gone and I miss him just as much. He meows on command and when I make a kissy sound at him, he turns his head down for me to kiss the top of it. I get a lot of slack for “crazy cat lady” status, but he’s my best buddy and makes everything okay.

Yep. That is a real thing. Hair Bling is basically individual strands of tinsel that you tie into your hair. Comes in all different colors. I prefer the copper, because I have red hair. Apparently, I never outgrew that stage of development where I am distracted by pretty, shiny, sparkly things. Strangely enough, whenever I have bling in my hair, I get stopped by strangers on the street at least once a day. I am an ambassador of sparkly things.

Another thing I love. LUSH bath bombs and bubble bars. At about $5-8 bucks a pop, not exactly inexpensive, but they smell wondrous, even if you never use them in the bathtub. I save them for special occasions. There is a sparkly one that I love, of course.

Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series (really, anything written by him). Smart, geeky, fun and full of biblio-love and literary inside jokes. 1-4 are better than 5-6, in my opinion, but you can’t go wrong with his work. Just reread 1-4 for the hundredth time and I still laughed out loud constantly.

SHERLOCK!! Because I am hot for both those guys, but especially the City of London, as portrayed in the series.
MAD MEN. Skip the nicotine and the rampant sexism, and bring on those Peter Pan collars
Bollywood music on itunes….perfect for getting through a slow afternoon at work.
Zinnias.
That’s my list for the moment.

My Tervis tumbler. I am one of those people who has to always have something to drink. AM: it’ll keep my coffee or tea hot as balls for the ride to drop the kids off at school. PM: it keeps my wine slushies cold as fuck for the ride to pick the kids up from school. It’s stupid to say a cup makes me happy, but goddammit it just does.

I promise I don’t drink an drive my kids around. Most of the time, anyway.

Nook HD and Nook HD+ tablets. I got both for my birthday because I couldn’t decide which I wanted, and my husband sucks and never buys me any presents so he was all “Sure, get both, whatever.” Win for me! I love them, I can have the smaller one for travel, or in the kitchen and the bigger one for reading and all the apps n’ stuff. Not so cheap, but cheaper than other tablets. I hear they won’t be making them anymore, which is sad, so that was more motivation to snap them up while they were still available. I also *love* Fido jars, they keep all manner of creepy crawlies from infesting dry goods that I store in them, and they are all glass so they clean really well, unlike plastic.

I’m with you on the bath sheet, only I don’t actually own one…yet. But my most treasured possession is my sewing machine. It’s a fancy pants computerized one, and I don’t know (yet) what most of the stitches are for, but I’m weirdly attached to it. I haven’t even used it for a few weeks but every time I think about taking it back out, I just get warm fuzzies.
Also, Instagram and Pinterest have made having a smartphone fun again.

Right now I can’t live without: Orange Is The New Black on Neflix, s’mores that I make over our stove every night (I’m pregnant), cuddles from our three cats, The Oatmeal’s comics, fake bloody marys with lots of green olive juice and washing my hair in Lake Huron because I like to be a hippie in the summer.

Hey Jen, I too suffer from an autoimmune disease, lupus, and also have trouble sleeping. I read up on the Neuro Sleep that you mentioned, and it has melatonin. I have always been advised to avoid melatonin because it stimulates the immune system. Just something you may want to ask about. I hate to ruin something you love that works for you. 😦

(Dammit. But good to know. I’ll ask my rheumatologist about it. ~ Jenny)

I know how it sounds, but my new cell phone. I have multiple health problems that make getting up and down stairs a problem. When I lost my job we had to move to a more affordable house with stairs I have trouble climbing. Then I got shingles on my foot…okay, yeah, this is not so much turning out to be my year so much…BUT…I did get a great deal on a new phone. I can text my husband or my kids when I feel lonely or trapped or need supplies up in my room. I can stay in contact with the freelance work I’m doing and not have to put the weight of the laptop on my legs that I’m trying to keep propped up. I think I have made 2 phone calls on it, but it has kept me from loosing my mind for the last week. Living in the future is amazing. Who would have thought a little piece of glass and metal and plastic would keep me from feeling cut off from the rest of the world! As much as it kind of sucks to be me in a lot of ways right now, at least it is easy to be reminded that I am not alone!

Aveeno lotion. I hate lotion–seriously, hate it. But Aveeno is not greasy like every other lotion I’ve ever tried, a little bit of it really goes a long way, and comparatively, it’s not very expensive. Go to Bath and Body Works and you’ll get a tiny bottle of uber-smelly crap for twice what you’ll pay for a good size bottle of Aveeno. And it isn’t strong smelling, either.

Knitting needles and yarn. I get anxious a lot, and knitting helps me focus on the now and stop the whirling thoughts. I think it’s saved my life a few times, stopping the really bad self-hatred things in their tracks. Not only is it a better therapy than talking to people (strange people make me nervous), but I also get to be creative and have far too many hats now.

Things I’ve discovered that I didn’t know I would love but I do: My FitBit. Going through chemo sometimes all I want to do is lie in bed, but that little bugger tells me when I am a slug and helps motivate me to get up and get moving!

ooooh and Merrell shoes! I LOVE Merrell shoes. They are expensive but they last so much longer than any other shoes, the cost balances out easily. For someone with low arches like me, they are FANTASTIC.

It’s hard to come up with one thing that changed my life, but if I have to pick one, I’d pick a book. But not just any book; all of them! Books have so literally saved my life. From trashy fiction that makes me cry from laughter, to books that are so inspiring that I actually cry, and then the books that transport me to anywhere but here so I don’t have to deal with depression in the moment…books have saved my life.

Reading is such a great coping skill, don’t you think? As is using kinder language, not only when talking to yourself, but also to others.

Morgan, I have an Alphasmart too! They’re awesome! Yay for distraction-free, fast writing!
Something that cheers me up and I don’t think it cost a lot of money (it was a birthday gift so I don’t know for sure): my brother and sister-in-law got me a plush TARDIS that lights up and makes the TARDIS emergency brake sounds. It’s amazing! It sits on my bureau and I just randomly push the button so I can smile.

Mark Anthony Strictly Curls Curl Booster I have curly hair that gets its own ideas when it’s crazy humid out (like it always seems to be in NYC). This is the first product that seems to combat that. It doesn’t have the nicest smell out of the bottle but it doesn’t make your hair stink.

Mamrie Hart’s You Deserve a Drink I assume you can handle a little off-the-wall humor. I don’t drink and never have and yet this YouTube channel dedicated to mixing drinks is my favorite. She’s hysterical. And dirty. VERY dirty. GO WATCH.

Soundcloud Music CAN be free sometimes. I’ve discovered some really great musicians on here. If you’re like me then sometimes music is just what you need to unwind and feel a bit better about the human race.

My fluffy cat, Gabriel. I know it’s a bit corny, but he is honestly the only thing I’ve got that makes me consistently happy every day of my life. I got him for free from a farm where they nonchalantly informed me that the kittens they have that don’t get picked up by strangers generally end up as owl food. I was horrified, and took him home immediately (along with his brother, Azrael, who has a gooey eye which meant his chances of rescue were probably low). Maybe Gabriel knows that I saved him from a gory fate, because he loves me just as furiously as I love him. Azrael loves me, too, but the bond isn’t as deep. Gabriel is like the cat I always wanted: quiet, cuddly, fluffy, giving (not needy), and always nearby. Anyone who says that cats don’t attach themselves to people, or only love them because you feed them, is a cat-hating fool who’s just jealous of the adoration that cat-lovers share with their darling felines. Any time I find that I might be thinking some terrible thought, Gabriel’s there to remind me that, even if I think no one else might need me, he does. And the thought of him waiting at the door for me, and me never coming back to him, stops those thoughts in their tracks.

BEACH GLASS. Sea glass. Whatever you call it, it’s my crack. Oh wait, you can’t exactly buy that. I suppose I could buy a few plane tickets though to the west coast where I hear tales of a beach that is like nearly ALL beach glass. I don’t have nearly enough and I suck at finding it when I look, but hey. Way to be mediocre, right?

One more. The back-up camera on my car. YAY FOR NO MORE RUNNING OVER CHILDREN. Wait no. That part didn’t happen. But I did once give a hearty ram to a pile of bags of mulch…..and a wall.

I don’t think I have a shot at winning it, but if I did I wouldn’t keep the gift card. I’d give it to my best friend. Because she’s amazing, and life handed her a big bag of suck lately, so she’s always on the brink of poor but can’t do a thing about it til after her transplant and her kids drive her nuts half the time. So yeah. I’d like to give her something awesome but she won’t let me if it’s from my own pocket. I have things that make me happy, that I can’t live without, and most of them cost money so…. I’d rather share the love.

The Backstreet Boys… Most people think I’m insane when I say they are my happy place, but I can’t tell you how many times their music has helped me through dark times. I can’t not smile when their music is playing, it brightens my darkest days.

My iPhone. It has my gateway drug, the Internet which led me to twitter which led me to you. Plus, it also has my kindle AND nook apps. Because I’m such a nerd, I need two e-readers. That’s how I roll.

My iPod. I use music to drown out the noise in my head. In the same vein, concerts. I LOVE live music, especially. And strawberry-kiwi Snapple. 🙂 – Oh and books! I just started getting back into reading. I used to read a lot as a kid but somehow lost my way. Oh well, I’m BACK now and that’s what’s important! 😉

Summer fruit. Cherries especially.
Little plastic spring cat toys that keep my cat entertained for hours on end (and me too, just watching her).
My Kindle, with almost any book I want to read, right at my fingertips instantly.
Podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts to keep me from going crazy on my long drive to and from work every day.

My old battered copy of A WRINKLE IN TIME. One of my childhood favorites and the book that first got me interested in science fiction/fantasy. My set of BETSY -TACY books. Some of them are new and some are passed down from my grandmother. String cheese. I seriously love string cheese. Soft sheets. Mugs from around the world. I try and buy a mug from every city I go and then when I sit and have a cup of tea it makes me happy to remember where the mug is from. Fresh notebooks. I’m a sucker for clean fresh notebooks, so much promise. Loose leaf tea. English tea, Chinese tea, Japanese tea..I love it all as long as it is loose leaf. My blender. I make a smoothie every single morning and it is a great way to start my day.

Netflix is pretty darned terrific. Having that many viewing choices tends to lead to indecision paralysis (some days, I spend more time deciding what to watch than actually watching stuff), but I love it with my whole heart nonetheless.

My telescoping backscratcher. I had my gall bladder out on Friday (fortunately mine was not trying to kill me!) and the pain meds make me crazy itchy. Now I can scratch my back, legs, feet, without bending over.
Dawn

Leprechaun Strawberry Cider. I’m not a beer drinker (usually). This is my kick back and relax after life has thrown you for a loop beverage. It’s seasonal, so when it’s out of season, I go for their Golden Apple. It’s kind of like Champagne.

Star Pizza in Houston. I’m particularly fond of their Starburst Pizza on whole wheat crust. They also have killer salads.

The book When She Woke by Hillary Jordan. It’s a slightly futuristic take on the Scarlet Letter, and it’s pretty awesome. I recently had the book’s last line, “She woke, and she was herself” tattooed on my arm so I can see it first thing every morning. I needed a little reminder that I could be myself again (why I wasn’t myself is a long, drawn-out story).

I am also a huge Neil Gaiman fan. I say go to any event that he is speaking at whenever you can. It’s well worth the money. His new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is stellar.

The Vlogbrothers YouTube channel. John and Hank Green are some of the coolest guys out there, and they are so incredibly honest and accessible. I adore them. They do lots of other great videos, too – like the Crash Course series. I also love Wil Wheaton’s TableTop on the Geek & Sundry YouTube Channel.

MASH – I don’t care what anyone else says. Alan Alda only made that show better every season. LOVE IT.

Late night trips to the convenience store to buy cheap lipstick that is actually surprisingly effective at not coming off on everything (wet n wild matte mega last or whatever, seriously best.) also nail polish. I bought this shitty polish pen but its good for making things out of dots. I just like to doodle on my nails. It keeps me from picking at my skin and calms my anxiety by shifting focus. Fucking nail therapy, hell yes.

Also: thank the lawd for amazon Prime (and organic food delivery) for allowing me to shop for essentials from home with FREE TWO DAY SHIPPING. Never leaving my house ever agaaain!

The clearance sections at Staples and Target; you can sometimes find gems. Roku (Internet t.v.) – there are so many fricken’ free channels that are so freaking great… a lot that show old movies and t.v. shows. Netflix streaming- the entertainment bargain of all time (available on Roku). Proactiv Solution- just the mask but don’t use it as a mask: when a zit starts to erupt, dab a bit on it and leave it on overnight; works 100% of the time and will last for a year or more using it so sparingly. IKEA pillows….seriously best pillows I’ve ever slept on and only 10 bucks. Finally, a substance called Awesome… I get it at the dollar store and it is removes the toughest stains from surfaces, like Sharpie from tabletops.

Julep Maven box-fun nail polish sent to you every month
A sound machine-waves are so peaceful to fall asleep too!
Adidas soccer shoes-the Women’s Predator LZ TRX FG Boots are a life saver. Especially when you’re 18 but have the hips and feet of an 80 year old.
and…
it may sound cheesy but I wish I could give everyone the love and compassion my parents have given me over these very tough years 😀

Gail Simone: she’s a comic book writer most known for writing amazing badass superheroes. She’s become a hero of mine. Her writing is dark but with a sense of humor that reminds me that there are brighter days ahead. Se brought me back to comics, and gave me heroes I can admire. Like Barbara Gordon and Wonder Woman. Her words “Keep faith, trust to love, fight with honor, but fight to win” are an inspiration.

Facebook: my best friend lives in Japan. We haven’t seen each other in over two years. But we still talk almost every day, because of FB chat. It lets me talk to the person I trust the most, and gives me a place to talk to someone, even if it is through chat.

Sunrises: there’s something magically different about watching a sunrise instead of a sunset. It’s quiet, and the world seems to pause for it.

Stone paper: I love writing, and discovered a notebook made from limestone paper. It’s amazing, water resistant, and smear resistant. Perfect for taking everywhere.

hmmmm…..
my kindle-I still love regular books, but for travel and free books? love it.
the socks I get from Sock Dreams-I only wear long, over the knee or thigh high socks any more, and they make me stupid happy.
Doctor Who.
HWHV-they’ve helped me through some very, very tough times in the last few years.
I’m sure there’s more, but my brain’s not spitting it out right now.

I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts. I know I am among my people!

I am not taking classes this summer and my health is been weird I haven’t been able to sleep and I’ve had headaches so I haven’t been able to read so I couldn’t have survived the last few months without instant streaming. I have Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Steaming. I have been able to keep my brain occupied while I wasn’t able to sleep without making my headaches worst. I caught up on shows, rewatched things and found new things I didn’t know where good. Stuff I never watched cuz I didn’t have time with my course load at school.

As others have said I can’t live without my Kindle. I take it everywhere with me, literally it’s I my purse when ever I go out. It’s so much easier than always walking around with a book.

My ipad – I have 4 different reading apps on it as well as Audible. Also Netflix is on it so I can watch Doctor Who over and over. Torchwood is Captain Jack’s spinoff from Doctor Who (and is for mor mature audiences) but I love it!

Also, my husband, son, and 3 sisters because they help boost me up when my migraines and depression get too bad. But family is priceless, isn’t it?

Wow a lot of things on your list are on my list.
Also, Terry Pratchett.

And my Nook HD+. I bought it during the Mother’s Day sale this year because the battery on my Nook Color was dead and even thought I technically couldn’t afford it, who else is going to buy Mother’s day presents for a single mom? I literally use it for hours every day and it makes me happy.

And finally, my kettles. Usually when I buy anything that costs more than $10, I feel guilty when I use it. But my pans, every time I use them, I think “I’m so glad I bought these!” They are T-Fal stainless steel with a built-in copper bottom and they just WORK RIGHT!

(I have a super-old nook but I love it for traveling since I don’t have to bring 20 pounds of books with me at a time. ~ Jenny)

Dark chocolate. Yay! On a bad day with the kids (I’m currently raising 3 kids aged 6, 3, and 3 — yay, twins) alone because my husband moved to another state to find work) I raid my super-seekrit stash of candy and for a few minutes all is well.

It’s odd, but I’ve grown to love fountain pens to distraction. They’ve given me an excuse to write – any kind of writing. Fiction. Journal entries. Love letters. Depression and happiness and everything in between, they’re always used through any mood. And I can’t say that about a lot of my hobbies when the depression takes hold. I’ve amassed a fair amount of cheaper pen, probably 40+ ink samples in all colors, and an expensive bottle of ink in a color I consider my signature (Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-Budo for anyone wondering. A beautiful, deep magenta.) it helps that I tend to buy all of my papers, inks, and pens through a mom ‘n pop pen shop, so I feel like I’m helping out the little guys while getting my write on. (Gouletpens.com – they’re super nice. If you want to try out a fountain pen, go to these people.)

I second the sentiment about independent book stores, though. They feel cozier, more old-fashioned, and more personal than mainstream book stores. They also have more personality. Thank you for supporting them – we need more stores like that in this world.

Ear plugs. My husband & I take turns with our 18 mo.old who still insists on waking at least once every night a freakin’ 2 or 3 a.m. (Btw, I plan to go in his room as a teenager and scream in his face when he’s asleep as payback). The other stuff I can’t live without are those stick on belly pouches that heat up when you are having a raging period. Many people have unknowingly survived another day on earth because of those. Lastly, tiger balm. I get vice-grip headaches and tiger balm really helps on my temples…in combination with a sip of wine here & there.
Thanks to you & everyone else for sharing!

I’m a Pinhead – that’s like a crackhead, but with Pinterest. I absolutely love finding people who have the same warped tastes as I do, and I’ve been introduced to more incredible art than I ever knew existed.

TIM DORSEY BOOKS!! If you’ve never read the antics of Serge and Coleman (kind of like Dexter with a pothead sidekick) you need to grab a couple and check them out. Also, the Sweet Potato Queens books – the early ones. I don’t know if they’re still cranking them out or not, but they were hysterical.

I’m not just saying this, but I can’t live without my two copies of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. One’s the ARC, whose pages are covered with the beverages I’ve spat out from laughing too hard. The other is the paperback that I bought so I could read the bonus chapter. This is the copy I keep all pristine. I keep them on different floors of the house so I always have one within reach if I’m having a rotten day & need a pick-me-up, or if life is feeling too overwhelming.

Well, it WOULD have been my Laugh it Up, Fuzzball t-shirt but I accidentally shrank it it the goddamned drier today. So I guess now it’s my favorite cereal bowl that my sister bought for me before we were sisters; it’s the perfect size and shape and has happy polka dots on it. ALSO a piece of red fabric that has been in my stash for years that is waiting for the right project to come along. And my most recent find, the Steve Martin/Edie Brickell album, “Love Will Come For You”. It makes me weep in the very best way. It made the sun shine for me again, which is terrificly difficult these days.

The Bathrobe of the Gods, aka the Hammacher Schlemmer “The Genuine Turkish Bathrobe”. Thick and luxurious, just the right thing to lounge in after a shower – like being hugged by a valium-taking polar bear. I’ve owned mine for over 10 years and it’s still as comfy as it was when new.

Formula One racing and the U.S. Formula One announce team of David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, Will Buxton and either Bob Varsha (best) or Leigh Diffie (OK) – like being invited into the guy’s living room to watch the race with them. The F1 off-season is a dark time for me.

I love a good coffee mug, one that holds the right amount, feels good in my hand, is not easily tipped over in my decaffeinated state. When they have a slightly curved drinking edge, they don’t drip. Even better if it has a great message or supports a good cause.

A jar of impeller-expressed coconut oil in the shower. It is semi-solid at room temp and a little goes a long way to soothe irritated/dry skin with nothing else added and no annoying scent (also a target buy). Just be careful not to make your shower slippery (baking soda helps here). The same stuff (although not the same jar) is good to add to foods. Turns out medium-chain lipids are not as bad for you as certain oil-producing markets would have you believe.

I totally agree on the bookstore, Neil Gaiman, Allie Brosh, Dr. Who and bath sheets. This tells me I must give the rest a try (hoping it does not come to the hotline, but glad it is there). Thanks!

My computer. I’m a little agoraphobic, so having my computer on bad days lets me get out of my head without getting out of my house.

Papier-mache. So much fun to play with goop and glue and mess and end up with something creative!

My boyfriend. He’s my rock, and puts up with my crazy. I don’t know what I would do without him to go home to.

My cat. She is my little fuzzbutt. Sometimes she murders random shoelaces, fingers, toes, and boobs- but she’s mostly a sweetheart to me. There are few things in this world that can’t be solved by a nap with a cat.

So many “me too”s in the comments! Like the rose salve and the library and the internet! One of my other favorite things is my wall-mounted battery organizer. It’s the most wonderful boring purchase I’ve ever made. I’m also very appreciative of percoset right now, because kidney stones.

My Kobo eReader (I’m Canadian). It’s actually my second one with the first being passed down to my 7-year-old son (my 11-year-old daughter bought her own with her birthday money). I love that I can have hundreds of books on it and it’s so light, and it has a backlight so I can read anywhere I want. Which I do. A lot.

Doctor Who, because I love that show and it makes me so emotional, plus it’s fun bonding time between me and all the other nerds in my family.

My heated blanket (which, okay, needs to be replaced). I have terrible insomnia, and I’m always cold at bedtime and this somehow manages to help with both. I mean, it’s not perfect by any means but the warmth helps me to relax.

And your blog and twitter, because it’s nice to be reminded that depression lies, especially when I’m having one of those bad days.

I just graduated college, which is EXCOTING, but I loved that town and those people and all the book reading very much, so I’ve needed a coping song while saying goodbye. It’s “Matilda” by Alt-J and it’s remarkable.

My Brita pitcher. I had to start taking topimax for my migraines, because nothing else would work. The first thing I was told was that I HAD to stop drinking carbonated/caffeinated items, such as mountain dew. And I love mountain dew. Still. And it’s been four months since the last time I had one.
Anyway, I had to start drinking water, and lots of it, because the side effects of my medicine are numb limbs and tip-of-the-tongue syndrome if you don’t stay hydrated.
Bottled water is pricey seeing as how I go through up to nine bottles a day, so I bought a Brita pitcher on Amazon.
LET ME TELL YOU, PEOPLE: you neeeeeed one of these. They’re like $19-35 depending on the model & you buy a new filter every two months. It’s cheaper than bottled water, and tastes way better. Before this thing, I hated water. It’s magic. Magical magic.
I have gone four months with only two migraines, when I used to have two a week.
I constantly have water with me, and can constantly feel my hands! Yay!

My iPod, and Lifesavers. A few years ago, I started having panic attacks in the car. I have trouble whenever I’m stuck in traffic – especially if it’s on the highway or something where I really have nowhere to escape to. It’s not quite as bad if I can hop out and run over to the sidewalk. Anyway. I found that if I listened to my iPod and closed my eyes and took deep breaths, I could kind of pretend that I was somewhere else. Helped calm me down a lot. And lifesavers are just yummy. I think I had one the first time I tried this iPod thing, and now they just calm me down by association, so I keep them in my purse to eat if I get nervous.

Gail Simone: a comic book writer that has done a lot for diversity in comics. She has written so many sponge female characters that have become my heroes. If I ever meet her in real life, I owe her a hug and a thank you. For giving me heroes I can aspire to be.

Facebook: my best friend lives in Japan. Throu Facebook, we talk almost every day even though we haven’t seen each other in two years.

Hemp Body butter by the Body Shop. I have severe hand cracking issues. It does not have to be winter. Before I found this I was using super glue so my hands would not bleed. I put this on my hands at night and them wear socks over my hands and in a few days they are all non bleeding again.
Thank you Jenny for all you post. I look for what you share every day. You are one of the major little things that I enjoy.

I continue to be depressed around the entire situation surrounding the conversation on race in America. I get horribly depressed thinking of how my son will grow up taking advantage of the automatic privilege he will receive from the color of his skin as I have and my parents before me. For me there is nothing physical other than my family I can’t live without because I am automatically blessed with privilege that those who are sometimes smarter and/or more deserving have never known.

Thank you for posting Neuro – I’ve ordered some – I’m hoping that I can get 6 hours of sleep without waking up every hour.

My favorite thing and it’s free http://www.dogshaming.com. OK first I check your blog every day but I always check in to the dog shaming cause – it’s funny and I know – “Hey my dogs aren’t totally insane – there are other dogs that do the same stupid shit”

Getting on my bike and doing 10 miles – at 53 and having rediscovered the joys of biking it’s something that takes my mind off the other crap

Watching my 11 year old Mastiff, Sweetpea do her happy dance every time I feed her. It’s the same food for the past 8 years that I have had her but she has taught me “Every day is a good day”

Last but not least – Breyers Heath Bar ice cream – hence the need to do 10 miles on the bike 🙂

Custom made orthotics! Im 28 and have had them for 2 years. Not only have they helped with my debilitating foot pain (gnarly troll feet run in my family), but my bum knee only bothers me in the deepet of Ohio winters now, and my lowback pain that has kicked my ass since high school.almost NEVER bothers me. God bless my husband for marrying a woman who’s body is convinced she’s 90

Seriously astonishing how supporting the body from the ground up changes my life….

One of my favorite things in the whole world is thrift stores. It’s like the indie bookstores: tons of werd stuff you wouldn’t find anywhere else, and sometimes a sort of creepy peek into other peoples’ lives. I always check the book section, because cheap, and then walk around goin “but what kind of house would these people have, if they thought this vase was a good idea?”
Second place: carboot sales. Basically for the same reasons, but outside and even cheaper (usually. Until you meet that one person that actually knows the value of what they are selling. Bummer)

My display cabinets. They weren’t cheap, but are huge and awesome. As a set of collectors (see what I did there?) we have lots of display worthy objects, and we might need to buy more cabinets, but we don’t really have anywhere to put them, so we just fill our current ones.

http://www.CanvasWarriors.com Not only do they make awesome custom hand painted shoes, Sandiry and Afy have turned into dear friends. And that is priceless.

There are so many things I’ve learned to live without, for good reasons– nothing sad:
*Adult television, because my 5 & 6 yr olds are adorable and forceful and sensitive and there are cable channels full of merriment and learning now, where in my day, I had only M*A*S*H*
*Allie Brosh, because she doesn’t just post her genius every day, just for me, no matter how many times I visit her website and refresh, refresh, refresh
*feeling in my wedding-ring finger because of an unfortunate avocado-pitting encounter earlier this year. Okay, that’s a little sad. For now, I wear my wedding ring on a chain around my neck like a high school senior going steady.
BUT: The one thing I can’t live without is handmade soap from CHASE STREET SOAP COMPANY. It’s the most ridiculous indulgence, but the scents are natural and wonderful– I’m using a bar of romaine– romaine!!– sea salt scrub for now, but there are other delights to be had. (Don’t like smelly soap? There’s “The Nude.” Want to smell ‘manly’? Select from the “Salty Dog” line. Want to wash your dog? Use “Filthy Mutt.” Etc. etc. etc.). The bars are large, thick, hand-cut, handmade, heavy, well-priced, and last forever. I shop in bulk and give them as gifts. The owner (who is not me! I’m just a loyal customer with a thing for the romaine) has an Etsy shop , Facebook account, and a website. Here’s an Etsy link. http://www.etsy.com/shop/chasestreetsoapco

My Ball’s (not THOSE kind of balls) Canning book. It helped me start canning which I found was a very effective form of distraction/therapy for me when my anxiety was reeking significant havoc in my life.

Candy Crush. I hate it. But I love it because when I start to cycle up with my OCD and anxiety I can take it out on the game and usually my focus is changed enough to avoid the meltdown.

My expensive guilty please? My Vitamix. I HATED that I had to buy one because they’re so friggin’ expensive but I cannot imagine my life without it now. Making HOT soup in the BLENDER with a bunch of random crap in your fridge?! AND ICE CREAM!!!

For starters, there was the e-book Strange Academy by Teresa Wilde. It is the most amazing multi-layered thing I think I’ve ever read – and I’m a Neil Gaiman junkie, so that’s saying something. That led me to Teresa Wilde’s other paranormal books, including the YA ones, which show more respect for their readers’ intelligence and maturity than most so-called adult novels do. It also led me to the romance novels that she has written under the name Teresa Morgan. Witty and funny (yes those are different things), smart and totally hot. I love imaginative fiction, so of course I loved Strange Academy. But I never, ever read YAs or romance, except for these ones. I’m so glad I found this author, because now I feel like I have a friend with whom I can share whatever mood I’m experiencing. I mean, another friend besides Jenny 😉

– Individually wrapped, disposable, eyeglass cleaner wipes. My husband, daughter & I wear glasses and we can never find the spray cleaner or the soft eye rag. I used to think they were too pricey but we found a box of over 200 for like $9 at Sams club. Anytime I use one I then use it to clean my call phone, so bonus.

– Instagram. Simple & fun way to share random pics & bits of life.

– Croc flip flops. I have really bad feet. I love pedicures & flip flops in the warm weather and these are the only flops I’ve found that I can wear. They’re not pretty but I love them.

You are truly gracious in doing this and I hope whomever benefits from your generosity will pay it forward in whatever way they can.

As for me, HoMedics Sound SPA Relaxation Sound Machine – got it at Target for $20.- Between the super noisy, neighbors upstairs and the sounds of sirens and loud thump-thump music outside, it has been a lifesaver. Especially when my menorrhagia strikes and I’m stuck in the bedroom for 3-5 days in a row. Also, in all honesty, Tampax Ultras – makes dealing with the aforementioned somewhat easier – buying 2-3 packs a month instead of more of others.

One of my best friends, who I met in my early twenties, and I started this weird and goofy tradition of giving each other “presents” and going on “adventures” (trips to completely random locations, usually for no particular reason, and sometimes without knowing where we were going when we got in the car). Most of these presents were strange and random found objects and an odd assortment of small trinkets. I used to keep all of them, as well as other little momentos, in a box covered in sea shells that belonged to my grandmother. I called them “my treasures”. I would open up the box every once in a while, and empty it out one item at a time, smiling at each little happy memory that went along with every one. Some of my favorite treasures: a sticker that said “Rat Bastard” that had restaurant specials written on the back, given to me by a former roommate, a key to a room in an abandoned hotel in the Pine Barrens that I have never been to, a lock of hair from my horse’s mane and a rock I pulled out of her hoof the day we first met. By far, my favorite treasure was one that my friend bought for me out of a gumball machine when we were out on one of our “adventures”. It was a tiny silver charm that looked like a feather that came on a string necklace. We decided that it was obviously made of a rare and precious metal that we dubbed “Tri-sparkle”. I wore it all the time, until it was absolutely battered-looking. So, I put it in an empty ring box and retired it to live amongst my other treasures. A few days ago, while digging through some random items that had been rescued from my condo, I found that very ring box, with my beautiful Tri-sparkle inside! It had somehow survived for fifteen years, through at least half a dozen moves, and – most incredibly – the fire that completely destroyed my home two years ago. Smiling and crying at the same time, that little Tri-sparkle made my entire day.

My daughters, Julie and Abbie. Funny how the same exact things that made you crazy turn right around and keep you sane, They’re grown now, and the world is a better (and WAY more interesting) place with them in it.

So many things. First of all, Doctor Who? YES. I’ve watched them over and over and it’s SO LONG until November!

Also? Audible books. Especially the ones by Joshilyn Jackson. And you of course. Driving from Wichita Falls to Lubbock several times lately has made me really appreciate my favorite authors reading their works.

1) monthlyinfo.com It tracks your periods for you, guys! You just have to log in and say when you first started your period, and do this for a few months, and then the site will send you a sweet email four (or whatever) days before stating, “your period is about to start!”. But the best best part is that you can go in and look at charts of your menstrual cycles. I have about 5 years worth, now, so there are some WICKED cool charts, for those of us that like that sort of thing.

2) mint.com It tracks your money for you, guys! Maybe this proves that I’m boring-er than I care to admit, but this has changed my life. I was the sort of person who was always flustered 5 days before payday, like, “where did all the dollars go?” But this fun site full of primary colors makes it feel like a video game to set up a monthly budget for yourself. Full of pie charts, bar graphs. It shows you your bank accounts, credit cards and loans.

Thanks for your great list! I love many of the things you shared, and perhaps now have a good excuse to buy the TARDIS towel. “Bloggess told me to!”

Products I love
1 lush sea slat scrub, love the way it works, but the smell is beyond great.
2 kettle chips. Yum for days
3 oj mixed with club soda, cheap orngina, and if you add vodka, all the better.
4 dwell magazine

Thank goodness you had the lotion suggestion here! I have yet to find a lotion hearty enough for skin this perpetually dry. I’m going to have to buy that. As for something I can’t live without now, it’s Mio, that thing that turns water into flavored water/juice. Water is pretty much the most boring thing on the planet to drink, and Mio makes it so I actually WANT to drink it! Yay for not being dehydrated anymore!

My book and manga collection – seriously, when we moved into our house I nearly had a nervous breakdown until I could unpack all my books and put them all on their respective shelves. Their like my friends.

You’re book – as in “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” by Jenny Lawson. This has become my personal security blanket and has helped my life more than you will ever know. Thanks!

Amanda Palmer’s music – see above. Also seeing her in Manchester a few weeks ago was a religious experience.

I live for my Kindle Fire
it gives me interwebs access to read awesome blogs and order pizza online
it downloads books which I read voraciously – two or three a week (and thank the gods for Pixel of Ink and their daily links to cheap and free ebooks! http://www.pixelofink.com)
it brings me e-magazines so I don’t have to collect stacks and stacks of glossy non-recycleable paper that could eventually smother me in a hoarder avalanche
it plays music when I need to close my eyes and shut out the world
and on days when closing my eyes isn’t enough, it lets me stay in bed under the covers and watch movies I’ve seen a thousand times. Everyone should do this at least once a month. It could reduce therapist visits by half.

a heating pad for my feet because they are ALWAYS cold. an otterbox for my iphone because I drop it at least once a day. keratin treatments because once you get away from the frizz you never want to go back.

And lastly in Sherlock they said “Brains are the new sexy”, sorry but brains were the sexy all along, just other women have started figuring this out. I need smart men. There’s Stephen Fry, Dara O’Briain, Tim Minchin, Brian Cox (boy band to CERN) and proof you don’t need a formal education to be well educated Craig Ferguson.

Supernatural. It has all the feels, an incredible amount of cheese (and cheesecake), and is stupidly funny at many points. It’s one of those shows that people either love madly or are largely ambivalent about; I haven’t seen any middle ground.

The phrase “It is what it is.” Those five words get me through even the hardest parts of my day, and help me not feel guilty when something out of my control happens. Likewise, “It’ll be what it’ll be” has mostly helped me stop worrying so damn much about the future. I haven’t figured out one to help me quit running mental circles over past mistakes, though.

I second a lot of these suggestions (the library, the internet, my Kindle, etc.), but to mention something I haven’t seen already: Tostitos Cantina Thin & Crispy Chips. Which might sound odd, but…I hate “baked” chips (blech – if I want a chip, I want a F^&*ing CHIP), and these are thinner than normal Tostitos but taste exactly the same! So I can eat the “normal” (HA!) amount for less calories, or have DOUBLE the “normal” (HA! HA!) amount for the “normal” calories! Win!

I found Cara McGee on tumblr (www.areyoutryingtodeduceme.tumblr.com) when BBC America reposted her Punk Doctors artwork and from her I discovered the magical world of adagio teas! (www.adagio.com) It’s an amazing website where you can buy all kinds of loose leaf teas and tea accessories. Cara herself is an amazing “Fandom Teas” artist. People literally create teas based on different fandoms. Both her Hobbit teas and Doctor Who teas are amazing! My favorite so far is her Bofur blend. I’ve never had tea with sweet potato in it before and believe me it’s amazing! So my treasure is both Cara McGee (I love her art, her tea, and her personality!) and adagio teas. Oh I forgot to mention that they sell small packages of teas and other ingredients so you can even experiment and make your own blends.

Any of the canon of work Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have had a hand in. Their writing, and the brilliant talent that brings it to life on television, has allowed me refuge from an otherwise chaotic life tailspin I’ve been caught in for a while now. Also, Animal Cookies and Rocky Road Klondike Bars…cuz duh…junk food. LOL

My favorite place to go when I have some extra money to spend on myself is http://www.sockdreams.com/
I LOVE thigh high socks, they are just so damn sexay. And their prices are not too shabby either!

And my other favourite person on the internets is Ursula Vernon, also an author and an artist. She is funny and talented and a little bent left of centre. She has a thing for wombats…its awesome. http://www.redwombatstudio.com/wpg2 if you look at her art, don’t forget to read the little blurbs she writes to with each piece 🙂

My galaxy smartphone is my favorite splurge. I got the kindle app for it, and use it to read all the time. Since I have a new baby, I spend a LOT of time nursing him, and the phone is th the perfect size for reading while I sit there. I also use it to play cool science stuff from YouTube for th the other kids while we’re in waiting rooms. I love my phone. Sometimes I even use it to call people.

Nectarcots, pluots, apriums, donut peaches. We first joined a fruit orchard CSA last summer and now I fear for the people around me the first summer these fruit aren’t in my house. If it’s because I’m really old and in a nursing home, I’ll probably end up bribing CNAs to smuggle in my stonefruit. If I request it like that, they’ll be thankful I’m female.

I love Burt’s Bees peppermint and rosemary body wash. Just w great pick me up in the mornings. Also, lexapro. I was all down on drugs until I actually started taking them and realized how much better I feel when every little thing doesn’t drive me to axe murder.
And music. With good headphones or singing with my kids in the car, it’s something I love to experience every single day.

I can’t function without my badger balm lip balm. I am an addict. I have it in my desk, purse, backpack and car(bad idea summer in Texas)
Oh and if you don’t watch I highly recommend catching up on The Walking Dead before season 4 starts in October. Me and hubby stay up all night watching entire seasons at a time. Awesome story telling.
And I love reading your blog Jenny. You and all the others who post comments make me feel less alien in the way my brain works. I feel less crazy knowing I’m not the only one.

I am seriously trying not to suck up to you, but I confess, your blog and your Twitter feed are treasures to me. I started my blog because I saw you in April. I admire how you’ve created this community of people who can freely admit, as Kevin Breel said in his TedTalk, “I suffer from depression.” Thanks to you, a lot of people no longer suffer alone.

I tweeted that you and a bunch of other people need to start an “It Gets Better” project for people living with depression. So, once your body is all healed, and your house fixed up, please get on that.

If I win the $350 Amazon gift card, I promise I will buy a bunch of books and donate them to some public schools.

I am in love with iced coffee at the moment. These hot Phoenician mornings make a piping hot cup of coffee less than appealing, so I splurge most days at the local independent coffee shop buying a large iced coffee. The best part is how they make coffee ice cubes, so it doesn’t get watered down. Glorious.

Sonic care toothbrush. I’ve had one for over 10 years, and it has made my teeth happy. Also it has saved me TONS on tooth care. Ditto my husband. Toothbrushes are not sexy. Teeth are easy to take for granted. But before I had a real dental plan, this was survival, people. This thing keeps my teeth from turning unsightly shades of either gold or red, depending on whether or not the drink was coffee or wine. So there is that. So it’s a total practical + vanity win situation.

I feel like a huge geek but I can’t live without my iPhone. It’s so much more than just a cool gadget to me. Tiny back-story: I grew up roughly and have struggled with many of the issues you mention. I have circled the dark lonely pit and I’ve mourned friends who’ve taken that awful leap. But…but I have also discovered an amazing world of support and love and encouragement and joy out there now that was inaccessible to me growing up. And now my iPhone makes that available to me 24/7/365. I can wake from a horrible flashback nightmare and the whole wide world of the Internet is available to me, which isn’t always just another Dr Who rerun, just usually.

I remember being that lost, terrified girl struggling to survive, but my iPhone helps me feel connected when I need it most. It may be a crutch but WTF is a crutch other than something that helps you keep going when your own strength has left you.

Jenny! You need to know about this: Voltaren gel. It’s over-the-counter in Europe, but prescription here in the US. Voltaren is a topical NSAID gel (diclofenac) — and by using it on individual joints instead of taking tablets, you get a much smaller risk of side effects. I’ve got an autoimmune disease, too, ankylosing spondylitis, and this really helps on my wrists and ankles. If you were in Berlin, you could just go get some to try, but here, you’ll have to ask a doctor. Unless one of your readers is in Berlin and can hook you up. 😀

My favorite author, Betty MacDonald (except for The Egg and I, and maybe Mrs Piggle Wiggle, her books are out of print but available on her website). I read her books over and over and over. She made me believe I could write, and if anyone ever compliments me on my writing I say it’s because of Betty MacDonald.

I also love my Cuisinart immersion blender, and pure lanolin, which is where I turned when coconut oil turned out not to be all that, after all.

The US Men’s National Team (soccer) is making me so happy right now. Klinsmann makes me smile every time he talks to the commentators.

The Griffith Observatory. Seriously, if you live close enough and haven’t been, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! They have a freaking Tesla Coil that they fire up every hour! Parking is free, admission is free, and the planetarium shows are totally worth the $7 (for adults; kids are cheaper).

Downy wrinkle releaser, because I haven’t ironed since the Clinton administration. Bare minerals ready foundation because it spackles over all my acne scars, and Gay coffee brand coffee, particularly the red hanky roast, which gets my morning buzz going better than other coffee I’ve tried. I take my coffee very seriously. Oh, and those triangle-shaped Crayola crayons, which have been such a lifesaver because I could never get my kids to hold their crayons properly. I so don’t need to be entered to win anything, but I love that you’re doing this. I’m totally getting some of those microwave booties to keep my toes from going numb when winter hits. 🙂

i am OBSESSED with my heating pad and my ice packs. oh, and hot baths. i have some severe pain issues and i’ve found that those three things work better that the loads of opioids they give me. and they don’t screw with my mind (which is already pretty screwed up on its own!)

My Sanuk flipflops. i have to say, i am a girl who has hated flipflops for years. i HAVE to wear shoes. Like real, actual shoes, WITH socks. i cannot stand wearing shoes without socks. i think it comes from growing up in Kansas where they have those sticker burrs in the grass. Rather have those on my socks than in my skin. At any rate, for years flipflops have been relegated to wearing too/from the pool/beach, or on days where it’s just too incredibly hot to even consider shoes.

Then i got a blister the size of a quarter at Disneyland and knew i could not make it through the day. We hit Downtown Disney and went to the Sanuk store. i tried on a pair and i was completely and totally in love. They are super cushiony, it feels like you’re walking on air. The ones i get are made from recycled yoga mats, which makes the super fun to wear to yoga as well. And now here i am, the girl who had to wear shoes AND socks no matter what, and i wear my Sanuk flipflops more than i wear any other shoe, hands down. When my little toe got a blister that didn’t pop and only got bigger on day three of Disney World, i spent three days in those flipflops, and i couldn’t have done that in any other flipflops. i’ve even bought a second pair because i love them so much.

And my oogle boys: David Tennant, John Barrowman, and Chris Jericho. They make life worth living. Even if every one of them is married. Sigh.

A Trogg Frogg. It’s for people who work outside and cross small children every day before school and melt in Arizona. (Okay, so I guess that last part is a given, but it’s true.) I wrap it around my neck and it looks a whole lot better than a tube sock with ice cube in it. It’s incredible!

I have this list of books that saved my life, but if I had to pick one single book I owe my life to, it’s Deerskin. That book showed me that yes, horrible things happen, and you never get over them, you never get through them, you live the rest of your life carrying the experience of those thing. But those horrible things do not own you. Those horrible things that happened to you do not have to be the basis of your identity.

Deerskin tipped the scale from me being a victim to me being a survivor. And for me there is no more important difference than that slight vocabulary change.

Dolls
Any kind really, the Monster High ones are my current favourites because they’re so messed up and awesome. I cannot live without dolls because they’re always there for you, and when you’ve had a bad day you can kill/destroy them without getting incarcerated. Plus they come at any price so the poor can enjoy them to.

Words
They are beautiful and fun, and are so powerful that they can either flow gracefully through your mind and make everything better or ruin your entire existence and course through your veins like poison. The one I most recently have taken a fancy to is ‘pseudonim’ it just rolls off the tongue like warm honey. And words are free.

Stuffed Animals
They can be super cheap and they comfort you, and they don’t have voices so they can’t shout “Get off me you fucking lard ball!” every time you lean on them.

Muse
My most favored band, they even managed to surpass Abba and Alacazar.

My Bed
Oh good lord I think you all know why!

(Dolls. Amen. I went to a damn doll CONVENTION last year. I have a problem. ~ Jenny)

1- Entertainment Weekly Magazine- because shallow as it is I need my trusted entertainment news
2- IMDB- because that site/app always answers the “Who is in that movie?” question
3-Goodreads- because this site/app lets me know what order book series come in, what I have read, and what I want to read.
4-Dr. Pepper- because well sometimes you need sugar & caffeine.
5- And finally Doctor Who- simply because it is Doctor Who

Comedy. I just went through a bad breakup with the person I wanted to marry and I am also in my final month of nursing school. If I couldn’t watch Colbert Report or Impractical Jokers or Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or any of the other countless clips I have watched on YouTube I don’t know what I would do with myself. I need to laugh or I would spend that time crying.

I love the off-brand-cheaper-versions of the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser cleaning pads. I can gauge the growth of my young boys by how high the dirty fingerprints are on every door in my home. Just add water and those nifty pads erase the fingerprints (and make room for the new ones).

Most of the stuff I can’t live without are violin making tools that only like six other people are interested in. But I will add to that list some things you might like, too.

Remote control daleks. Got them from Think Geek years ago and they were the original security system for our violin store before we got actual, you know, alarms. We also have a dalek bank that makes me happy.

Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle because I can watch them with my kids over and over and over.

A recipe for ‘cookie in a cup’ that I found on facebook that my kids and I can make together and it’s some nights the perfect thing.

You mean besides the obvious ones (chapstick and reese’s peanut butter cups)? OK: nice dishwashing liquid. I don’t have a dishwasher, so I do ’em all by hand, and it’s my most-hated chore. So I make it slightly less awful with something that smells good–anything from Mrs. Meyers or Caldrea will do. It costs like $8 a bottle, but then I don’t want to poke my eyes out with the fork everytime I clean the kitchen, so I figure I’m actually SAVING a ton of money on eye surgery costs, right?

Also, please be careful with the microwave slippers. I bought my mom some for christmas one year and the first time she put them in the microwave they exploded. So then she had no Christmas gift AND then we had to clean out the Unidentified Slipper Goo out of the microwave.

It might sound silly, but teddy bears gotta be one of my favourite things. When I was shopping with a friend at Walmart (of all places) we came across a chocolate scented teddy bear. It was pretty cute and it smelt like chocolate, but being broke at the time, I couldn’t justify spending $20 on something so frugal. And being that it was from Walmart, I figuered the amazing smell wouldnt last all too long anyway. Little did I know my friend went back and bought me the teddy bear and gave it to me for my birthday. And here’s the kicker, it still smells like chocolate over 3 years later 🙂

Oh, I forgot my expensive guilty pleasure: my LA Galaxy season ticket and parking pass! Oi, shut up, you can so be a soccer nerd. Trust me, no one gets teased quite like a soccer nerd. My friend Maria and I take off for a fun thing in LA, then go to our game, and we have a blast.

My Kindle I love to read, I have always loved to read and it has always been my way of keeping myself sane. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis in my hands and it has gotten so bad that it is hard for me to hold a dead tree book for any length of time anymore. My Kindle has saved me so I can read again without the pain.

Doctor Who and I have you to thank for that. I started watching The Doctor after seeing you talk so highly about him and now I am obsessed to the point that I am dreaming of the TARDIS showing up in my room.

The Walking Dead because I absolutely love this show. I have fibro so I read and watch a lot of tv so of course those are the things I can’t live without.

But I also could not live without my kids or my husband. Even if they do tend to interfere with my other can’t live without choices.

1. My animals. They keep me sane. Especially my big fluff-kitty that I can hug like a teddy bear!
2. Ice packs. I used to use heat for muscle spasms, then my chiropractor turned me on to ice. I have a huge one in my freezer and I love it.
3. Coffee. Gotta have my coffee in the mornings, even if it is decaf these days!
4. Computer games. nothing like it for getting away from real life BS.
5. Reading! I’ve been a bookworm since I learned to read, some time before I even started school.

Chips ahoy! I buy a bag and hide them in the freezer for a secret, late night snacks. Perfect with a glass of milk for dunking. It brings me so much guilt-free pleasure when my insomnia is running my brain on overtime!

Chips ahoy and my happy pills. Thank God for doctors who understand depression, otherwise I wouldn’t even know where to begin to finish this sentence…

The used book section at Schuler’s Books (in Michigan). I can get new books, classics, whatever for me, my classroom and my kids for dirt cheap prices. As my son said, “Used books are great. It’s not like underwear; nobody put them on their butt.”

In the products-you-may-not-know-about category, I’m going to offer up Ginger People’s Ginger Candies. They’re sweet and spicy and awesome (I especially like the regular ginger chews and the hard candy ones). Plus if you have chronic digestive issues and/or nausea, the ginger helps a lot of people with that.

In the things-you-may-not-think-of-or-think-you’re-capable-of category, I suggest giving out homemade presents at least once in a while. Seriously, find anything at all that you enjoy making or you think sounds like it might be fun (knit, sew, bake goodies, buy a pre-made boring looking something and decorate it all sparkly and pretty…anything), and have fun making it for someone else. Even if it ends up ridiculous, you’ll have more fun doing it than stressing out trying to buy the “perfect” gift, and people will love the time and effort you put into making something especially for them. I’ve been doing this for family xmas presents for several years now and nothing made me happier than to have all five of my nieces/nephews make me homemade birthday presents this year in return 🙂

Free or cheap: my local library. Even when finances are tight, I can slip on down there and find a wonderful new book to read.

This blog! You should know that for our last anniversary, the husband and I gave each other metal chickens. We didn’t arrange it, we just independently got each other metal chickens (sadly, not as giant as the real Beyonce).

Sexy red heels. Nothing perks up an outfit (or a day!) like a pair of sexy red heels.

Doctor Who
Watching Matt Smith run naked into the sea in the movie Clone
Anything by Neil Gaiman and/or Terry Pratchett
My newly painted bedroom cos my granddaughter did it as a birthday present.
My surprise 70th birthday party. Yes, I know I shouldnt be watching things like Matt Smith running naked at my age but what the hey just…..shut up.
My lovely new great grand daughter
Egg custard cup cakes, my Doctor Who birthday cake made by a neighbours daughter and Jammie Dodgers
Better mention my grandkids too who managed to keep the secret about the surprise party for 6 months despite being here with me almost every other day!!!!
Last but not least…Jennys blog which keeps me sane on the bad days…..sort of…..

I like your blog, which I discovered after I listened to your book, and I liked you lots even BEFORE I knew you liked Strangers In Paradise. It is the greatest comic in the world (and I hope you’ve continued to read Terry Moore’s stuff, because he continues to be awesome).

I cannot live without yarn. I’m a Dietetic student and I need to knit or crochet things just to keep the balance in my overcrowded brain. I just knit a shrunken head for my “new-to-me” car. Next is the knit beard I promised my 5 year old niece.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, because everyone should have a copy. Even when I start out with a different recipe, I inevitably come back to Julia. I love cooking, and it makes me so happy to be in the kitchen with my mother making 5 batches of mayo just to prove that we can get it right.

Carmex, but only in the glass tubs with the metal top. It doesn’t work if it comes out of plastic. Just trust me. Slather it on and rub the excess on the back of your left hand…or right if you apply left. Carmex just makes everything better. It is an acquired taste…like most of us.

It’s funny (maybe not so much) but I was in an accident not long ago that took away (hopefully temporarily) one of the things I cannot live without, reading. Like you I have always been a voracious reader, reading up to 3 books a day. Now I’m lucky to be able to make it through a magazine article, even getting to that point was a huge process.

Emilie Autumn’s quasi-autobiographical account of two stories, one of her time being locked up in the loony bin and one of her Victorian-era counterpart being locked up in The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls. These stories twist and curve around and through each other, and they are alternately scary, beautiful, funny, sad, maddening, and a host of other adjectives. The book itself is gigantic (nearly five lbs!), and it’s composed of full-color pages, drawings, scribblings, all manner of amazing shit. It is a fucking work of art. The physical book is around $60, but the ebook version is only $20. It is WORTH it. The download file is huge because of all the color pages, somewhere around a gigabyte and a half. It comes in PDF format, and you can read it on your Kindle if you have one. Just open your Kindle on your desktop like it’s a hard drive when it’s attached to your computer, then drag and drop the PDF file into the Documents folder. The Kindle has a native PDF reader that should work, but you can also use Adobe Acrobat if you’ve installed that app. Anyway, here it is: http://www.asylumemporium.com/collections/featured-items/products/ebook-the-asylum-for-wayward-victorian-girls-by-emilie-autumn-2nd-edition I love it, in all its gorgeous, gothic artistry. It is a beautiful piece that explores in detail the frustration of trying to explain mental illness to those who have never experienced it.

Looks like it’s been mentioned before, but I love my Audible subscription. I hoard my credits for Really Awesome Books That Are Never On Sale and stock up during sales which come surprisingly often. I love that I get to enjoy a book even if I’m gone all day and on my feet for ten hours straight!

My mother and books, I have autism, and mesophonia, and anxiety, and I’m young. I don’t understand most things and I can’t handle them, so I use books to escape my “issues” and the divorce, I also use them to be reborn if only for a moment, and my mother is my voice when I can’t muster the courage to even talk.

Our Family Game Cabinet. Now that they’ve outgrown Candy Land and Chutes & Ladders, playing ‘board’ games with my kids is one of my favorite ways to spend time with them. I’m not great at imaginary play and when the kids are inventing their own play, we usually end up with squabbles, but when we have the structured activity of a game it gives a framework to be able to really enjoy our time with each other. One of our favorites right now is Apples to Apples, but also love Rummikub, Clue, and Monopoly. Looking forward to teaching my 9 year old Risk soon!

About 7 years ago, my mother-in-law and I were shopping at Tuesday Morning, and I saw an electric griddle and mentioned that I wished I had one, so she bought it for me for Christmas. I love that thing. I have literally never been able to burn a pancake on it. It makes me happy every time I use it.

Fun to read all these! I will add that I love Dotera’s headache roll on. Essential oils and all that. You roll it on your forehead and neck for a tension headache and it’s amazing! Sometimes I still have to take the tylenol or advil with it, but that stuff helps take the edge off and lets me relax until the real drugs kick in. It’s so good!

Reading these comments makes me realize even more how lucky I am to have found my people. 200 comments in and I’m vacillating between screaming “ME TOO” and furiously scribbling notes about authors and stuff to check out. I so love you guys.

Ceiling fans. I didn’t grow up with them and for years couldn’t understand why people on those home design shows would get so upset when the interior designers wanted to take them down. But I’ve had them in my house for the last 6 years.. and now I totally understand!

Curling up with a super soft blanket, my dogs and a great book. Vegging out by the fireplace during fall/winter is like popping a Xanax. Watching my dogs play in the backyard until they’re exhausted and smiling. They know how to live in the moment. And as for tech- my iPhone iPad and Netflix! The app called “Clear” helps organize lists and it’s fantastic. Best 99cents I’ve ever spent!

I’m super tired at the moment, so only two things came to mind immediately as things I “discovered”:

My husband. He loves me so much and works so hard to take care of me. If my mother hadn’t taught me to be nice to everyone, I don’t think I would’ve even met him, let alone dated and married him.

Furry pets. Growing up with animal hoarders in the family, I never thought I’d have any pets myself. Now (especially since I’m infertile) they’re my furry babies and my love for them has changed my entire outlook on the animal kingdom for the better.

I second Jenny’s high praise for Hyperbole and a Half. It’s made me laugh so hard I cried on more occasions than I can recall, and her recent writing about depression deftly walks a fine line between heartwrenching and humorous. Can’t recommend it enough. (And I’ll definitely be buying her book.)

A few more things I love:

– The used book store at our public library: It’s like crack to me. When merchandise starts at $.50, how can you NOT buy books?

– Scrabble: One of our favorite weekend night activities is making mixed drinks, putting on a movie or TV show in the background, and playing Scrabble. We’re both super competitive and sometimes the game can end in exasperation, but it’s still a lot of fun, and makes us feel probably prouder than we should when we hit crazy bonuses and triple word/letter scores. http://www.target.com/p/library-scrabble-vintage-book-game/-/A-11240263

– Guacamole: I’ve become obsessed with making my own guac. It’s perfect with Target’s Archer Farms blue corn tortilla chips with flaxseeds. (Which are also great by themselves.)

– Revlon Lash Potion mascara: The last mascara I bought, and my new favorite. Less than $5 at Target. Score.

– Go Fug Yourself: One of the funniest websites ever, making fun of celebrities who dress poorly and celebrating all that is cheesy. Their love for Joshua Jackson (aka Pacey), Helen Mirren, and Tilda Swinton (SWINTON to Fug Nation) fills me with glee, and their takedowns of terrible ensembles are brilliant.

– “Friends” reruns: Yes, I own the entire series on DVD. Yes, I will watch it anytime it’s on cable. Could it BE any better?

– Nambe glassware: It’s pretty expensive (our sets were a wedding present), but it’s BEAUTIFUL. Every time we drink out of them, we feel so classy. Plus, the company is really wonderful. I accidentally broke one of the glasses and tweeted about it — and they contacted me and arranged to send two brand new replacements, free of charge. If I ever make enough money to afford to buy their products myself, they will have a customer for life. http://www.nambe.com/shop-drinkware-barware/5876.html#start=1

Fat Family Night Fridays. Every Friday night my family (consisting of two families who share a house-my twin sister’s and mine) get takeout from our favorite place (even if it means multiple stops) and we have a big family dinner together. Then we pop popcorn, the adults pour some wine, and we turn the lights out and watch something on Netflix until the wee hours. Right now we’re working our way through Supernatural. I also suffer from depression and no matter how bad my week is, I just tell myself to hold on until Friday, when I can be with my people and let things be good for awhile. Cannot put a price on contentment.

Doctor Who. Because it’s a big universe out there and who wouldn’t want to see it with a madman with a box? Also for the way it shows us how the most ordinary people are actually extraordinary when given the chance.

The Harry Potter series. It’s made my world a bit more magical.

Books in general. I always feel a bit lost when I don’t have anything to read.

My MacBook, which is over five years old. It keeps me connected to a wonderful community of women that developed over on another, now defunct, blog.

A Britta water pitcher so I can always drink clean, chlorine-free water. I drink a ton. Therefore …

My Camelback water bottle. It has a pinch-nozzle and a straw, so you don’t have to obscure your vision when drinking (water) while driving, and the pinch-nozzle (you squeeze it with your teeth) keeps the bottle from spilling when it tips over because you took a turn too fast in your car.

Glitter bottles (take an empty bottle, fill with hot water, squeeze in glue, add tons of glitter, glue on cap then duct tape for good measure). Totally mesmerizing and works wonders on my autistic son. My family now has four including one made from a tiny whiskey bottle. Also, duct tape.

When it comes to material items, the one at the top of my list is yarn. My grandma taught me how to knit and crochet as soon as I was old enough to properly hold the needles and hook (and not just try to stab myself in the eye with them). That was seriously one of the greatest gifts I was ever given.

I work with technology and people all day, to the tune of a great deal of stress, and I take medication for clinical depression. Every day, I try to make time, even if it’s only a few minutes, to pick up my current project and knit or crochet a little. There’s almost no technology involved, there’s never a software glitch or a “no internet connectivity” error, I don’t have to reboot the needles or plug in the yarn. My yarnwork never talks back or tries to convince me that my opinions aren’t valid or tells me that I’m just flat out wrong and also an idiot.

And there’s instant gratification. I make socks – I love to make socks. I also make other things, like baby blankets and amigurumi Cthulhu and Tom Baker Dr. Who scarves. I can see them taking form as I work on them. And I can hold those things in my hands and know that I made them and it’s kind of pretty awesome. When I’m feeling really down and having trouble seeing my own worth, that’s a big, big deal.

Yup, I love me some yarn. As a decompression device, I highly recommend it.

Can’t live without: friends and family of course
Chocolate chip cookies, my iPhone, Carmex, Orange is the New Black (obsessed), my mango slicer (life changing), my honey pot (not a euphemism), my house alarm to help with my anxiety, my therapist for the same, my cat’s purr, my mom’s wedding ring, and yoga. I will probably be up all night thinking of others but that’s it for now.

One thing I can’t live without is the clothes dryer, but not only for its obvious reasom. Every morning before I get the kids up for school, I take a few minutes to put their dry school uniforms in and leave them for about 3 minute. When the kids are ready to get dressed, they put them on straight out of the dryer—warm and fluffy. It’s a little way to make them feel special. They say its like a hug, and they especially like it in the winter. It also gets them out of bed faster because if they aren’t ready to dress when I get the clothes out of the dryer, the clothes will be cold and not as much fun to put on.

Do you belong to Costco? They have really nice quality bath sheets for about $12.00! You could get your whole set 🙂
So glad I discovered the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. They are fabulous books and even better as audio books narrated by the amazing Davina Porter. They really take me to another time and place when I need that.

-My sewing machine. It helps me Make Stuff, which is pretty much the best feeling there is.
-Baked Ruffles cheddar and sour cream chips. These things are made of crack.
-Straws! Every beverage is more delicious when consumed through a straw. It adds whimsy, and gives you something to play with/look up coyly over at restaurants.
-Books, and talking about them with my favorite people. Incidentally, your description of what Neil Gaiman’s work meant to you was so spot on for me as well. I would definitely not be the person I am today without having read his work.

People always say their children. I know, I understand. But, seriousy, my daughter is the one thing I can’t live without. She’s in college now and I have insomnia because I can’t (or shouldn’t so don’t) talk to her or hug her or just enjoy her being around and her. It’s not that empty nest syndrome – because it started when she was born. I could have become that helicopter parent and realized it when she was 2 weeks old – so I started going out of my way to not be the helicopter. There were and are times that I just want to be done, but, I can not possibly leave her with all of the shit we survived together. I go on so that she can have better. She enjoys life, she’s witty, funny, conscientious and probably OCD (like me) and she works hard (she’s a Freshman, works 3 jobs and volunteers and reads whole textbooks and technical manuals so she can know things). There is just so dang much we don’t have, but, then we live really simply. In my mind making it is having a towel warmer (we live in Wisconsin, so, yeah, cold). I told her that I was getting one for her first apartment. She’s in her first apartment now, but, it’s temporary during the summer so she doesn’t need one now, but, come winter… She would prefer an espresso machine or a sound mixing board or a guitar or a library or … Yeah, those are all on her, but, she’s getting there.

Not free: my kindle. I am an avid reader, and I love having a ton of books with me at all times that I can carry in my purse. I got a kindle fire, which I also love, but the regular kindle is just so great for sitting and reading and not being distracted by millions of other apps. Also, I love that no one can see what book I’m reading, so I don’t have to tell my coworkers that I’m reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Also, sock it to me socks. They are a little pricey, but come in tons of fun patterns and are super durable.

I like to find talented, but not-so-well-known musicians and going to see them when they play in my area. Not only are the venues smaller and more intimate, but they are less expensive, which means I get to go to more! I’ve found a special kind of magic there. It helps me get through the bad days when I’m having a hard time appreciating being alive.
I also love making people treats just because.

My ipad (I had you sign it at your signing in Beaverton or), it connects me with so many people, when I just can’t do it in person.
Skype, I can read my nephews nap time stories and tour my brothers newish house…awesome when you live too many miles away.
Books, in all forms. Takes me on adventures, takes me out of myself, teaches me, reaches me!
Yarn and circ. knitting needles…it is my calm. I knit baby blankets or hats. I have knit many other things but those two are my favorites.
Jalepino jelly…on taquitos, rice and chicken, chips, just enough spice for me.
Peach frozen margaritas
Petunias pies and pastries, it is a local (portland or) gluten free bakery that has all the yummy things I miss from being gluten free (although being gluten free lets me eat meals without running to the bathroom and my migraines are down to about 1x monthly…amazeballs!!)

Okay, I have to bookmark so many of those!
That way when I win the lottery I can buy them. 😀

My MUST have is sort of corny *blush*, a wonderful soft snuggely hug from my husband is amazing. I swear, if I am having THE worst day it can turn it right around. Maybe because he isn’t a snuggler?
hmm but I guess that isn’t something others can have. (Or I’ll kick butt! *evil eye*)

hmm You know, I can’t think of anything that is a go to for me, or that I just couldn’t live without. (besides the obvious family) Once upon a time it would have been silly things like my coffee cup collection, or coffee, but since my thyroid medication has kicked in full force, I find myself SO much happier with myself in general. Just makes me smile!

BUT, I will say this, your blog, and Wil Wheatons, were real life savers when I needed it!!

Vemma, the best liquid vitamin and mineral supplement in the world, and Verve, the healthy energy drink. Without those two products I would be less than half as productive as I am now. Yay for feeling energetic and healthy.

Doctor Who and Sherlock, of course
Sharpie Pens – seriously, I will not write with any other pen now
The local library – all the free books I want and DVDs so I can catch up on random TV shows
Goodreads – I read so many books that this is the best way for me to keep track of what I’ve read already
My cats

Then there’s Tabletop, Wil Wheaton’s show on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. It’s about board games and geekiness and hilarious celebrities. In each episode Wil plays a board game (that is awesome and you’ve probably never heard of) with guests and magic ensues. I’ve purchased a number of games after seeing them on the show and they’re all just as amazing as I thought they’d be. Twenty-somethings come to my house and want to play BOARD GAMES, y’all… it’s awesome and you should subscribe on YouTube right. this. minute.

L. M. Montgomery books (Anne of green gables series, Emily of new moon serirs and others).
These are my feel-good / feel-better books. They are my soul food and whenever things go terribly wrong I read them and feel better; “Anne’s house of Dreams” helped me when I had a miscarriage, for in it (spoiler) Anne loses a baby. Emily books reminds me that bad things happen, but stuff turns out all right.
My husband knows that if he comes home and sees me curled in a chair, reading one of these books that he needs to bring me booze and chocolate and leave me alone until I am ready to come out of my world.

I foster for a feline rescue group, specializing in taking on the pregnant, very young, and sick. Some things I would have a much harder time without are SnuggleSafe warmers, Royal Canin Baby Cat (dry and canned), hospital underpads, Kitten Attract litter, baking soda + vinegar + detergent for ridding laundry of odors, Fortiflora, and Little Noses decongestant drops.

Slightly more personally,

Lilac goat’s milk soap from Lori’s Soap Market in Branson, MO (also online). Their Rose scent is awesome as well, but lilacs will always be my favorite. Orange and ginger Aromatherapy shampoo and conditioner from Bath & Body Works. The Venus Breeze has saved me so much time shaving my legs.

Listening to podcasts on my ipod while I’m cleaning or gardening makes the tasks so much more enjoyable. I like The Moth, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, This American Life, The Nerdist, and others. I love playing Mystery Manor on my ipad daily.

I use my Cuisinart SmartPower Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System every day. Especially for making my morning yogurt smoothie, but also good for pancake batter or scrambling eggs if I want something more substantial. It is much easier to clean than my regular blender and the to-go cups are super-convenient.

Lady Alice apples. Seasonally available in mid-winter. They have the supercrisp flesh I love while tasting like apple cider. If you dice up one of these apples and mix it with french vanilla Oikos greek yogurt and Archer Farms Pecan Sticky Bun granola, then you have the dessert I ate for two months straight because it was even better than ice cream!

I had a lot of “me toos” while reading everyone’s lists, but I don’t think these items were mentioned.

I’m newly in love – again – with my Library. My Library, your Library, EVERYBODY’S Library. That’s the best part. Books to borrow, for free. Websites that let you know if they have the book you want, and request it if they don’t! Films, music, reference books, assistance with research! And all of it provided by staff and librarians who are some of the loveliest people on earth. Even when they’re grumpy. (which they only rarely are.)

Awesome bath and body stuff from an awesome lady. My favorite is the Smack! It’s soap that starts out all sandy and scrubby so it exfoliates you and makes your skin ultra soft while you clean. It comes in a whole bunch of different single notes that you can combine up to four to find awesome scent combos. I’m currently in a leather phase, and my favorite mixes are 1) two scoops of Vanilla Bean, one scoop Sugared Roses, one scoop Suede, or 2) one scoop Suede, one scoop Black Tea, one scoop Bonfire, and one scoop Honey Nut. I feel ultra badass after I use it.

One of my favorite books about a future where we’re all linked in and everything’s not okay. Also, best first line of a book ever: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.”

A blog about what happens when you’ve finished cancer treatment, but still haven’t finished healing from cancer (and cancer treatment.) Full disclosure: it’s my mom’s blog, but I would love it even if it wasn’t. Switching between funny and poignant, it’s great not just for people recovering from cancer, but anyone who is dealing with something that is still difficult even though society is telling you that you should be fine now.

Bonus thing that isn’t helpful for other people, but makes me smile: I don’t know exactly what all my friends are planning for my bachlorette party, but I just had to sign a waiver to go play Zombie Laser Tag. Everything about this is just the best thing ever.

I have a list in my phone of things I love just in case I am the reincarnation of Oprah and I just don’t know it yet. Bucky sleep masks, Twistband hair ties, Bounty paper towels, Cadbury mini eggs and memory foam pillows are all things I cannot live without. And acidophilus. And snack baggies. And my Kindle. Also probably oxygen and other organic nutrients. But mostly the other stuff.

Product I can’t live without http://www.t-nation.com/store/products/superfood . Seriously. I get…uh…gastronomic distress…from the vast majority of veggies, and I almost never eat enough fruit, so every morning I drink a cup of this instead of tea, and I rarely get sick now. Making nutrition super easy FTW, lemme tell you.

https://www.goodreads.com/ I’m not good at finishing some books, so keeping track of what I said I was reading helps keep me more accountable. I also am now aware of how many books I abandon. Poor books. (Not your book. I read it in a couple of sittings, and laughed until I literally cried at several points. ❤ )

And though she is not new to me, I love reading anything by Mary Roach. I adore her sense of humour in the midst of what would otherwise be somewhat awkward and/or dry books. Funny + learning = two great tastes that go great together!

Celestial Seasonings Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride tea. It tastes just like sugar cookies, and reminds me of being in my grandmother in her kitchen. She baked cookies every time we visited, and was the best grandmother anyone could have wished for.

Others have said it, but I could not live without Netflix. So cheap AND it remembers where I left off so I don’t have to. Also, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig. I first read it when I was 18 and it changed the way I thought about the world. I re-read it every few years and get something new from it every time.

I’m a mom of littles, so: cloth diapers. They save money, but they can also have cute and fun prints, and now that I have my TARDIS diaper, I can officially die happy. Cause of death: Nerdgasm. (It’s this one right here http://instagram.com/p/b9-pQCAUbp/#)

Tim Minchin. More specifically, all of his music, comedy, satire, humor, sarcasm, genius, and eyeliner. I love Matilda the Musical and have dance breaks in my kitchen with my kids to the lovely When I Grow Up. It makes every day of deployment more bearable.

Barefoot wines- cheap and everywhere.

Skype/Facebook/Internet capabilities in Afghanistan- without them I would not have seem or heard my husband for the past 8 months, or for the next 4. I am truley grateful for this technology.

I’ll be echoing people to start. First off, in the general categories, cats and books. There are times when my cats have been the reason to get up, so I can take proper care of them (and spoil them!) All sorts of fantasy literature, definitely including Gaiman. And since Cassie already mentioned some of them, I’ll say that I’ve reread Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar books so many times, they’re comfort reading now.

Specific things that were shockingly already mentioned, besides Lackey’s novels: Sanuk shoes and Tervis tumbler. I dislike flip flops intensely, but Sanuk also makes all sorts of Sidewalk Surfers that still have the comfy sandal footbed. I even have black suede Sanuk books. Insulated glasses are phenomenal to have, especially so when I lived in Florida. They’re still lovely now, and I enjoy not having drippy condensation on my glass as a bonus along with the insulated drink.

Finally, I have two new things. 1) Since I am a tea fiend, my Ingenuitea teapot is awesome. It holds sixteen ounces and has a built in metal mesh filter in the bottom. You let the tea steep, and then set it on top of your mug, which toggles open a valve in the bottom allowing your tea to strain directly into your cup. 2) Hyland’s Calms Forte. It’s a homeopathic sleep aid/stress relief. For me, this stuff works. It helps me falls asleep, helps calm my mind when it won’t stop running, and helps ease stress. It’s definitely a “your mileage may vary” item, but I have found it helpful for years now and know many others seem to as well. I know the people to whom I have recommended it were favorably impressed.

Tea. Loose leaf and from a teapot. I love tea. The process of making it is as soothing as the drinking of it. It is a ritual I love and that helps me when I am anxious or down.

My kindle. I have a neuro disease that has stolen a bit of my sight and I find reading small text impossible even with my glasses (although I know i need new ones but who can afford that.. lol.. not me). So the kindle allowing me to make the text nice and big means I can read still. Plus its so small and handy to cart around.

Whittakers chocolate. I am from New Zealand and its local chocolate that is pretty gosh darn good. They put out a new one about a week ago and its scrummy.

I just found Allie Brosh up for preorder! So psyched. I also second the Jennifer Cruise and Nalini Singh books recommendations. Cruise will make you warm from laughing and Singh will make you hot for other good reasons 😉

I can’t live without my garden. For a buck and a half, I can get a veggie start that feeds me for months. Right now, I’m gorging on cucumbers. (I recommend Straight Eight.) We just got the first few peppers. (Sweet Gypsy peppers are good for fresh salsa!) Soon we will have too many beans. (Blue Lake pole beans can grow straight up in a small amount of space.) You don’t need a lot of room or money. Just semi-decent sunlight and some puttering.

[Note: During springtime weeding I sort of feel differently about the garden 🙂 ]

Now to take a bunch of notes. If anybody has can’t-live-without hair products that actually work… I just got a haircut and things have gone, like, literally haywire. Assuming that haywire is actually wire that binds hay, which is what I think I need for my hair.

At the moment, it’s a digital pulse massager that I got for $40. (No, not THAT kind of massager…) All my stress goes to my shoulders, and then they get all tight and pulled up to my ears and basically it sucks. I’d love to get a real massage, but those would be expensive for daily use, and I also don’t like people touching me. I’ve only used this thing a few times, but it’s pretty awesome. Especially now that I have realized that the buttons actually change settings, and some are way more useful than others.

I’m not so good at math, but even I can tell that odds of being the randomly chosen winner are not good. But if it is my lucky day, I’d like it to be donated to my best friend, who’s going through the kind of tough times that not even a $40 massage and a bottle of rum can fix. You’re one of the things that help her remember that depression lies, so thank you for just being you.

Indigo Wild Zum Frankincense & Myrrh laundry soap. It’s pricey, at about $16 for a regular sized laundry soap bottle so I just use it for my sheets. Let me tell you though, it is bliss to get in freshly washed sheets that smell like they do when I use that laundry soap!

Things I love:
The Dry Sodas
The Battlestar Galactica soundtrack – Bear McCreary is a god.
Any foods with lavender, coconut, and rhubarb.
Kitty snuggles.
Teas – Earl Grey with lavender
Harry Potter
Lego Video Games
Dressing up like Batman to do things like Segway tours
The Twilight Edward standee that I taped a Matt Smith face on
Writers like Bill Willingham and Neil Gaiman
(I couldn’t pick one! But in fairness neither did you :-))

1. The Font Georgia: It’s free, and looks swift, and beautiful and has the feeling of immediacy when you read it, and David Foster Wallace used it in Consider The Lobster, so it’s hard right now for me to use Georgia without being reminded of the beautiful monstrous words of the guy. The Guy Who Killed Himself Because He Probably Thinks He’s An Inevitable Sacrifice For Me To Have All My Free Stuff.

I’m using Georgia right now to do social media marketing for James Salter, Ayala Shops, Allie Brosh/thank God she’s making it through and it’s no surprise that she’s not feeling at least level-6-of-10 well because I force myself to think that a person who writes that level of hilarity has to be feeling inversely extremely proportional.

2. Louis C.K.’s free podcasts on iTunes and Youtube. Why do I feel that when he’s a Required Listen to the Filipino youth at least, I shallowly arrogantly think we’d all be living what John Lennon only imagined? I’m not taken to thinking that – you know what? I’ll stop right there. I need to control this flow of words, words that are I feel important to say but I think are kind of distracting and counter-productive to my agenda of spreading the important things humanity should preserve. And by humanity, I only mean the readers of this blog’s thread.

3. Sarah Silverman’s Youtube stuff. That music video with Will.I.Am about spending with self and masturbate. That bit about Fur Coats “eaten” by African children. That bit of selling Vatican paintings away. All important to the burgeoning of the Filipino society I can cry for. You hear that, Filipino Congress? Steal our money and buy everyone some James Salter and Sarah Silverman Products please. You get rich by stealing, plus you’re stretching your influence to Sarah Silverman readers. You can never have enough people to steal from, right? Plus, Madam Blogess, Sarah Silverman likes Rio Kiley, and now that I’ve listened to your Rio Kiley linked song, Rio Kiley’s now my new must-study, after Arcade Fire, The Walkmen, The Shins, The Daniels who directed Simple Song, a music video that’s like Wes Anderson – all these are products I’m all taking with grace and sanctity and contentment and glee. And all of them are free.

4. 7 Eleven Hot Water and Ice. You live in Cebu and you don’t want shelling out P50 for cheap latte because the P7 instant coffe is just as weak but you can’t drink the P7 because only the P50 has hot water? Go bring tumbler you got from KFC Tumbler Pack (you’d like it because it’s got fun designs, designs all Pendleton Ward lovers would love) and get FREE hot water in 7 eleven branches in Mango and Capitol and Colon. Imagine what you can do with FREE Hot Water and Tumbler and Tumbler and Ice! Iced Frap with Cottage Cheese! Instant Ramen w/ Pork Rind and Lechon and Crispy Pata and Pork Rind Salad anywhere! Safe food, safer than the Pungko pungko shoddy street food! It’s genius! Filipino Congress, buy everyone a tumbler and Al Gore will be your friend. You can steal from Al Gore, too, right?

Doctor Who for sure, and Merlin.
My Mary Kay products (even if that sounds like a sales line, I love it and I’m not ashamed)
Thinkgeek.com, I will be making a wish list on that website for my babies because the baby stuff is just too damn cute not to. And they have amazing stuff in general.
My music collection, having been a musician for most of my life nothing makes me happier or calms me down better than putting on a recording of a concert I performed in.

My favorite things:
Dark Chocolate & Earl Grey Tea, Chai Tea Lattes make me smile when I am having a bad day. My favorite websites to check in with on a regular basis are yours, Allie’s (pre-ordered her book), and Epbot (I miss Jen’s tutorials and I hope she finds her joy in that page again) I found The Bloggess because of Epbot, I also like The Oatmeal.

I think that your list is wonderful. I started watching Doctor Who because of how much you and Jen from Cake Wrecks/Epbot talk about it.

I also found so much more from reading your blog. I found my tribe and the strength that comes from knowing you are not alone in the world. Although I think I might be alone in my dream to be the eccentric scary lady at the end of of the block (who is actually really awesome) when I am finally “elderly”.

O’Keefe’s Working Hands Cream. I’m a nursing assistant, so I wash my hands at least 30 times a day. My skin was getting so dry that my knuckles were cracking and bleeding. Someone recommended this, and it’s a MIRACLE. I use it nightly with gloves, and my skin stays ridiculously soft.

Ursula K. Le Guin. Fantastic author, whether she’s addressing the tensions between spirituality and technology in The Telling, investigating the meanings of gender in The Left Hand of Darkness, or painting a vivid picture of race and renewal in Four Ways to Forgiveness. LOVE her.

“Shake It Off” by Florence + The Machine. Reminds me of a Zen proverb that’s been helping me a lot lately (if not with my baseline anxiety, at least with the root causes of it): Let go or be dragged. And the video even features a fabulous Red Dress!

Latter Days. This movie breaks my heart and then puts me back together again. It’s about love and loss and creating your own family, but I think this quote sums up the theme that I love so much: “When I was a little kid, I use to put my nose right up to [the Sunday comics]. And I was just amazed because it looked like this mass of dots, and none of it made sense until I pulled back. Life looks like that mass of dots to me sometimes. None of it makes any sense, but I like to think that, from God’s perspective, life, everything – even this – make sense. It’s not just dots. Instead we’re all connected, and it’s beautiful and funny and good.”

Bath & Body Works’ Three-Wick Candles. They fill my entire house with scent and cover up the olfactory evidence of my inadequate housekeeping.

The New York Times. My favorite time suck on Sundays.

Books. Almost any book. But especially books by physicians who are also gifted authors. My current favorites are Oliver Sacks (anything he’s written is pure gold) and Abraham Verghese (“Cutting for Stone” is one of the very best books I’ve ever read). I’m awed that these men are able to be both compassionate clinicians and talented writers – especially on those days when I feel like I deserve a medal for simply surviving until bedtime.

Bath and Body Works Eucalyptus Spearmint candles. I can feel the tension leave my body when I smell this. It’s hard to describe. Just go into a Bath and Body Works and take a whiff. Then watch for them to go on sale.

-Benedict Cumberbatch makes me very happy. Can’t find him on Amazon, boo hoo. But can find him in some awesome movies and BBC series.
-Doctor Who and the Tardis
-Stardust by Neil Gaiman
-Feather quill pens and heavy stock writing paper
-Corsets and slips
-Calvin and Hobbes
-A good back rub, oh lord, do I need one
-Hyperbole and a Half
-And Jenny Lawson singing her audio book chapter titles

My goats and chickens. Because I was in this big deep ol’ depression that would not lift; I could not even get out of bed I was in such despair. But the farm… it needs tending. So every morning, for months, I would drag myself resentfully out of bed to milk and clean and collect eggs and the thousand and one other chores one has to do to run a small urban farm. And bit by bit, it got better. Sometimes it is still the best I can do, to get out of bed, attend to the farm, and crawl right back into bed, despairing. But some days I stay up. I sit in the pasture and watch the ongoing chicken drama. I feed the goats carrots and scratch their soft ears.

Also, “Trixie’s Guide To Bliss” by Trixie Koontz (aka Dean Koontz) Because it is the best ‘self-help’ book you will ever, ever read.

1 – Many jars, and fruits to put into them. I can stuff voraciously, as though it were my profession, which it’s not. I’m a stay-at-home-mama to two girls who will someday realize that most people buy things like pickles, mustard, ketchup, and jam, rather than make it. Lately I’ve been making my own awesome fruit syrups, with the goal of getting a shaved ice machine to make ice to drizzle them on top of, so your post is very relevant to me!

2 – My Dash Egg Cooker. I thought the idea was so ridiculous when my husband mentioned it… Why would I need a separate machine for cooking eggs, when we have a 5-burner stovetop? But he ordered one, and it rocks my world. It makes these awesome ‘medium boiled’ eggs with a perfectly runny yolk that runs down over sliced avocado onto my toast, with esentially no effort from me other than the joy of eating it.I love that thing.

3 – Cats. I have 5, which still feels like we’re missing one, now over a year after one of our sweet guys passed away.

4 – the movie Amadeus

5 – books. My default favorite is The Phantom Tollbooth, though sometimes I feel like I should chose a favorite grown-up book. It’s such a good one though!

6 – Eos lip balm.

7 – a membership to the Field Museum to my 4-year-old future paleontologlist can visit her best dinosaur friends on a regular basis

8 – quality loose-leaf tea

9- the ability to purchase things on the internet

10 – my iPad, so I can make silly lists like this while nursing my 13-mo-old at one in the morning.

My local library! It’s free and provides the best escapes–I could never afford to buy all of the books I read. Some favorites (mostly kid’s books):
Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (and all of the sequels) by Alan Bradley
The Theodosia series by RL LaFevers
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
The Magyk series by Angie Sage
Anything by Diana Wynne Jones

So can be super corny and say love and the sun. Neither expensive but both make everyone happy…. And I typed out a few things that are expensive. Then erased them. Because these two things are keeping me going right now.

-Electric kettle. So much faster than the stove (my stove sucks) for heating water, and it plugs in anywhere.
-My Kindle. This one is really at the top of the list. I used to read about 70- 80 books each year, then I got a kindle and that number went *way* up, last year it was close to 400 books. I love my kindle to bits. And so many good reads are free or really cheap and carrying hundreds of books in my purse is the best thing ever. Never going to run out of reading material again.
-Burt’s Bees pomegranate lip balm – it’s light in texture but keeps my lips soft and smooth for a long time after applying and it’s got a great light scent, most lip balms with any scent at all give me headaches. Love this one though.
-Nitrile gloves – possibly weird but they are perfect for working on light jobs in the garden or around the house to keep your hands clean. And there are perfect for cooking when you are handling hot peppers -no finger to eye transmission and screaming later on- or anything that leaves a smell on your hands. I like garlic but I *hate* the smell chopping it leaves on my skin. With the gloves it’s not a problem. And costco carries them, so they are easy to keep on hand.

Mr. Clean Magic Erasers – they clean things I don’t think could be cleaned.
Dirt Devil Extreme Power Hand-Vac – so much easier then a full-size vacuum.
Arm & Hammer For Sensitive Skin Laundry Detergent – because it sucks when your clothes make you itchy.
Soda Stream water carbonator – settles my stomach without having to buy tons of bottled fizzy water.
Microfiber Hair Turban – who needs a bath towel on your head after a shower?
Anything written by David Sedaris.

Any of Paul Rudd’s older films, like Clueless, Overnight Delivery, Object of My Affection. His films before he started doing bromances? Woonderful.

BeautyLabo Shake Hair Dye. It comes in a milk shake type container, and spreads on your hair like whipped cream. They even have light colors that go over dark hair without bleaching.

Squishables. They’re giant round ball-like stuffed animals. I have the Narwhal and a Panda. They can be used as pillows when you nap, and they’re great to hug when you feel sad.

Membership to the local hands on museum.

Paper stars. You can buy jars of them, or you can make them yourself from origami paper.

I try to visit shirtoftheday.com every few months, because they put all the shirt-sites in one location, and then I can choose like that.

Fabric from Spoonflower. They have loads of cool fabric. Even some from Doctor Who. I have a pink toile of all the villains, but I don’t think they have that anymore. They do have a TARDIS damask, though.

I wanted to share some things that others may need but not know about. These are products that I have stumbled across or found through great trial and error and now like so much that I tell everyone about them-
Neosporin overnight renewal therapy- best thing I have ever found for chapped lips, available at most discount and drug stores. My son and I get the worst chapped lips (mine will split and his will chap around his mouth and look like clown face paint) and this is the only thing that helps.
Mustela stelatopia moisturizing cream- works great on eczema patches (available from skinstore.com)
Reusable icepacks (actually hot/cold but I only ever freeze mine…and they stay squishy). I buy mine from scriphessco.com where they have every size, shape, and texture you could ever need, but any chiropractic site would have it (or amazon, they have everything!)
Relora- an herbal supplement I heard about on Dr. Oz for weight loss (belly fat). It didn’t do much for weight loss but I think it is supposed to help stress eaters and I don’t qualify. However, I found that it has helped me with shoulder and neck tension, which helps me with headaches and sleeping so I don’t care that it hasn’t really helped me with weight loss.
Online scan-able coupons- every time I find myself stuck in line at a store, I pull out my smartphone and start searching for store coupons where you can pull up a bar code for the cashier to scan. It helps my patience and occasionally saves me money 🙂
I absolutely love the warm and fuzzy feeling I get when I can help someone, so I really hope somebody reads this and it helps them. I love this site and everyone one it and wish you all the best!

I, like you (and I’m sure many of your other readers out there as well), struggle with self-harm occasionally; it’s been getting more frequent as my depression, OCD, anxiety, trich, and derm get worse with time and age. Though I’ve been on medication for years now and also been fortunate enough to have access to a few excellent therapists (both of which have been life savers in their own right), I still fight with myself on a daily (hourly) basis. I wonder if you might dedicate a post to those aforementioned coping mechanisms that you were so fortunate to discover through the Suicide Hotline?

I got the microwave slippers too, from my husband for Christmas. He thought they were a joke gift, but I love them. Mine are called “Hot Booties” and when I saw that charge on our account I thought he bought some x-rated movie or something. I also love a simple back-scratcher he got me from the local drug store, it has a telescopic handle, so I can reach any part of my back. It is heaven.

And I wanted to say thank you for being thoughtful enough and brave enough to mention the Suicide Prevention Hotline. I have never needed it and probably never will, but as I read that entry I thought “Jenny Lawson just saved someone’s life.” And probably more than one. So even if you never write another word, your legacy is assured. I looked at the Suicide Prevention Hotline Link, and they accept donations. I’m adding them to my 10%-to-charity list Right. Now.

My art supplies- they help me when I’m feeling low, because I make something cool, or beautiful, and it makes me feel better about myself and where I’m at with my life. I also couldn’t live without Jasper Fforde. The Eyre Affair and the ensuing sequels are literary genius.

Practical Magic – Okay I know you have your own movie like this but I watch this when I want to feel better because it’s exactly the right amount of teary eyed, feel good, weirdness. The book by Alice Hoffman and the movie are equally wonderful. A lot of my favorite things are movie related, I’m a film major.

Looking up actors I like on IMDB and trying to watch as many of the movies on the list as possible. I go to the library for most of this but sometimes end up buying one if I find it cheap. I have found some of the most intriguing, thought provoking, disturbing, erotic, etc. stuff doing this. For instance I found a film called “Perfume” by looking up Allen Rickman which I think you might appreciate. Read the synopsis first/scroll down to storyline, NOT SAFE FOR CHILDREN. ~ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396171/

Sometimes I sit down with a book in my library and hold a question in my head, then I open it to a random page and select a passage blind by pointing at it. Upon reading, sometimes it has nothing to do with the question but when it is it never fails to amuse. It can jump start your brain when you’re having writer’s block. Try the same thing with your music library.

Watching “How Clean Is Your House?” on youtube. This is an English T.V. Show with two cute little english ladies who go around helping people with their unbelievable FILTHY BIOHAZARD house messes. I’m not judging them, most of them went through really rough life changes and their house is an external symptom. It makes me feel so good to watch them get this help that they so desperately need and after I’ve watched I suddenly want to clean my ass off!

I love your blog and thank you for sharing your weirdness with us so we can all feel better about being the creative “weirdos” and not one of those poor unfortunate “normals”. I hope you find at least one of these things as pleasing as I do. 😉 Take Care.

*my sewing machine – I go through withdrawal if I don’t get to sew every day
*quilting blogs – you’re one of the few non-quilting related blogs I follow (you, Allie Brosh’s, Ken Jennings’ and murrmurr’s – you have to check her out. She has a book “Trousering Your Weasel” that is screamingly funny).
*$2.99 or cheaper books for my Nook – I have found some surprisingly good writers that way. I have 5 bookcases in my house (down from 8) and I’m re-thinking this whole hard-copy thing.
*Best Press spray starch (lavender scent) by the gallon from Amazon – way cheaper than at the quilt store
*my kitty, Tigger, who has an automatic feeder set to feed him at 5 a.m. but persists in waking me at 4:30 a.m. to tell me the food hasn’t come out yet and he’s probably going to die so I’d better get up and feed him.

Things I love that make life bearable (aside from my kids and cats, of course): Books. My favorites are Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein, the Harry Potter series, the novels of Jane Austen, and anything written by Terry Pratchett, esp. the Discworld novels featuring the Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax or the Ankh-Morpork city watch. Also, I’m currently reading the Sandman comics for the first time, am now on volume 8, and pretty much just have to say, “Wow!” It took me awhile to get into the first one, but I haven’t been able to put down any of the others–I stayed up until 2:00 in the morning reading volume 6 last night!

I love my really old Sony e-reader. Yes, I have to hook it up to the computer, but it’s only for reading books. It doesn’t have games, it’s not back lit, and I love it.

I also am in love with Nivea Lip Care. I put it on every night, and it has helped my lips so much.

I hate to cook, hate it completely. However, I figure my kids probably shouldn’t eat out every day, so I go to http://www.ourbestbites.com. They have the BEST recipes for everything. I have yet to cook something from their site that I didn’t like. Their recipes usually are fairly simple, without crazy ingredients. However, if they do have a strange one, they tell you where to find it, and what else to do with it.

I’m pretty easy to please, and right about now, I’m in a really good place in my life. My best friend just donated her kidney to her brother. If I were to win the gift card, I’d totally give it to her. She keeps saying she’s not a hero, but I know better. She and her husband are both teachers, and they didn’t even really get to enjoy their summer.

People used to look at me like crazy for owning bath sheets, and mine are 30 years old now. But what I can’t live without are thick fluffy *wool* socks for sleeping in. None of the acrylic nonsense. Mens thick work socks with towel-like loops on the inside. In WOOL. Late spring I can switch to cotton socks, but it has to hit 30celcius (86F) for me to even think about giving them up. Also my chewie ( a custom made dental splint) cos I grind my teeth in my sleep. Glamour, I has it.

My little kitty boy O’Reily Bird, the small furry love of my life I’m about to loose to a tumor. My Nook, I could not live without my e-reader. Blueberries, and raspberries when I can afford them and Fage 0% yogurt. Ice packs. I LOVE my gel ice packs. They make the things that hurt, hurt less, AND you can put them in your bed to cool it off in the summer before you get in it. And then I’m really weird… I ADORE cold showers. Again makes things hurt less, and there’s nothing in the world like cold water on a freaking hot summer day.

Ooh, I’ll have to try the coconut scrub! Allie Brosh is fantastic, and I. LOVE. Jenny Lewis! I’m seeing her tour with the Postal Service this week and I am soooo excited. Also, one time I went to what I thought was just a Beck concert on my birthday, only to find that JENNY LEWIS was opening for him. LOOOOOVE. Okay that is all.

Renew lotion, it’s the only lotion I can use with my eczema. It is more expensive than regular lotions but I buy it by the case and keep it in very room in my house.
Also my cast iron griddle that lays across two burners of my stove top. Pancakes, French toast, toasted cheese, quesadillas, this bad boy does it all and does it fast!

My stuffed baby Big bird that I have had since the summer before my senior year, because it reminds me of my two best friends and our bond that is still strong after 19 years. My iComfort bed, because I have back and spine issues and for some reason radiate enough heat to fry an egg most of the time and it keeps me nice and cool. And last but not least our beloved comics, all 11,000+ of them, they are my adventures when i cannot escape the frantic anxiety of my mind, my distraction when my husband is deployed, my entertainment when I get bored, and most importantly, it was my interest in comic books that made my husband decide to keep me way back on our second date!

I could not live with out my e-reader. I lost my nook about 2 months ago and it sent me into a deep depression and constant panic attacks looking for it. I finally gave up about 2 weeks ago and ordered a kindle snd I feel at least a little bit more whole again.
I also love my tervis tumbler because I never stay hydrated enough and it helps to keep stuff to drink with me.

The last thing I could not live without is disney world I splurged on season passes this year and it has been a great investment in my sanity. It reminds me it is ok to let go of reality from time to time and just be a kid at heart.

Bomb pops! I got addicted to these while I was pregnant with my daughter. She’s 4 months old now, but I still go through a box of these a week. We’re watching every penny now that I don’t work, and anything left at the end of the month goes to my daughter, but these Popsicles are my one indulgence. 🙂

I can’t live without my microfiber hair wrap towel. I travel and its awesome and drys fast so I can pack it up and go. I live in Scotland now, but still adore your list and anything from Amazon I by I just ship to my mom in Texas and either pick it up when I visit or she sends it along. I LOVE this list.

Books! I have a kindle and I love it and yet I am still filling my house with books.
Also tea, I recently started drinking tea and became instantly addicted.
Converse trainers, I always wanted a pair of these when I was a teenager but couldn’t afford them. I now have four pairs in different colours, and am plotting to buy my fifth pair.
My cat, Marvin, he always knows when it is more appropriate to cuddle up to me or bite me (named after the Martian not the paranoid android although I often think an electronic item that knows everything and tells me Don’t Panic would be a major help in my life)
I now also think my life won’t be complete without a Tardis beach towel……

Not trying to pander here, but you! I found you, and it has made my world better. Also Allie Brosh, Post Secret, and the Geeky Hostess. Oh, and Color Me Katie. She makes me so happy! Doctor Who, of course. It has actually changed my life.

You mentioned towels twice so I thought I would mention my addiction. . . . Japanese Towelkets (google wanted me to search for Towelettes but TOTALLY different!)
Towelkets are amazing, towel blankets!!! great in the hot humid summer just to sleep under a double or queen size towel. I do not share with my hubby so he has to have his own towelket or else we steal it in the night if there is just one. When I was a kid, after a hot bath I just loved to snuggle in a beach towel and often dozed off so having a towelket is a dream come true. Can’t imagine living without one. Like Adams said, don’t leave home without your towel, since mine is blanket size I must be a really big hoopy frood.

here is a link to show an example of a towelket but really it is all about the feel of it.

4. Art – though I do art a lot less than I used to and need to paint and draw more often, when I do I always feel better afterwards.

5. My sister’s dog – this dog makes everything better. This winter we’re going to have one of her puppies and I can’t wait because this dog is awesome and I love this dog and can’t wait to have my own.

6. My sister – we got along a lot more than when we were younger and help each other survive through everything.

7. A king sized bed – it was cheaper to get a king size bed brand new than a full size bed brand new at the time so logically we got a king size. Way better deal right? I don’t even remember how I slept on a full size bed now with my husband instead of a king.

Kinder eggs. These magical surprise chocolate eggs that you can buy in any convenience store in the world except in the USA, where they are illegal due to having small parts. The thin chocolate eggshell contains a plastic capsule with a toy inside, often one that has to be assembled and becomes something bigger. There are hundreds of different ones and you never know if you’ll get an entire puzzle or just a figurine, but my favorite was an alien sitting on a copy machine. The ‘paper’ that came out was a picture of the alien! Since these are difficult to get in the USA, I have people bring them back for me if they ever travel and then I stock up and save them for when I’m having a hard day. It doesn’t fix the depression or whatever might be stressing me, but the bit of chocolate and the toy surprise can do a lot to inject some happiness and whimsy when I need it!

The first two aren’t really “cheap”
My Breville “Toaster” oven – the one that bakes cookies, roasts veggies and a chicken, and broils to boot.
My Breville Sous Chef – Best best best food processor ever

Melatonin – it makes bedtime most likely to end in sleep
Sharpie Gel Highlighters
Books by Diane Ackerman – esp A Natural History of Love
Writing and receiving letters by post
My cats – even though one is diabetic, one is incontinent (and furry) and the last hope turned out to be lacking in brains and common sense
My contact lenses – I’d be blind without them
My husband
My son

I love Bookbub.com. They give great deals on books, and after you sign up (the site looks fishy, but it really doesn’t spam you) you can choose the genres that you prefer and what retailer you want to get deals from. Mine is set for adventure, thrillers, and fantasy at Barnes & Noble because I have a Nook, but you can choose anything, even the cookbook genre (although that one rarely has any specials). For digital books only, I’m afraid.

waffle maker – I rarely make waffles, but I do use it to make toast (everyone should, waffle print toast is the best). When we got married, we got zero toasters but 4 waffle makers. We kept 3… one of them lives at my mom’s though. I guess since I use one of them like a toaster, we actually did get a toaster, sort of. I think I’m going to use it to make grilled cheese tomorrow.

baby tracker app on my cell phone. It pretty much keeps track of what goes in and out of my new baby. I never thought I’d care quite so much about anyone else’s bodily functions, but there you go. My brain is fried most days, though, and this tracker helps me feel like I’m staying on top of stuff.

everything else on my phone. seriously. I use a google calendar to keep track of my family’s comings and goings and my cell phone is my main conduit to that. also access to my email, and communication with my spouse since our schedules are wacky different right now.

*My SodaStream. Fuzzy water is awesome.
*Re-reading books, or just favorite passages–the ones that are guaranteed to put you in a different place before you fall asleep.
*Blowtorch. Lighting it up and melting metal, then hammering the metal, melting it again.
*Too many fave authors to list, so I’ll just think the list and you can all go ‘oh yeah, same here’.
*Cheese.
*My puppy, Penny Dreadful.
*Rock hunting. Low stress.

I just discovered what’s called a “dirty” diet coke, which is diet coke on the rocks with sugar-free coconut syrup and then a fresh lime and lime juice. It’s addicting and delicious and now I can’t stop craving them!

I bought a bunch of strawberries at a great sale and didn’t know what I was going to do with all of them. And then I saw this recipe and decided to try it. It was a huge hit! The kids love it and don’t want me to buy jam anymore and just keep on making this one. It’s even yummy eating it straight out of the jar! It’s easy to make, it tastes great, and it’s healthy! So I guess I better go stock up on lots of strawberries and make enough to last us until next summer!

I am getting SO MANY ideas! Thank you!
~Lipstick. but mostly MAC lipstick in chili. And the fact that I have a “signature” color. 🙂
~Internet friends-anyone who has them can tell you they are just as real as friends irl.
~Vera Wang Bouquet bought at 1/2 of retail on eBay. After years of using perfumes I liked “ok”, I finally found “my” scent.
~Yes on Who!!!
~Malt vinegar chips from Fresh & Easy…I haven’t ever seen another brand of these delicious beauties.
~Ice. Im an ice whore and have wrecked my teeth from chewing so much ice. I bought an Emerson portable ice machine about a year ago and the ice is softer, though your shave ice machine sounds like it would be better!
~Coffee. Hot, iced, black, sweetened, milk, flavored syrups… Yes, yes, yes…
~TiVo. Not just a DVR-I love the company, their service & the TiVo head.
~My 50’s vintage O’Keefe & Merritt stove.

Golden Girls, the complete series on DVD. Nothing makes me feel better than watching some hilarious Golden Girls. It reminds me of being little and safe, of my mom and Gramma, and is just funny as hell almost 30 years later.

All dressed chips. I hear you don’t have them in the states, and due to that alone, you are poorer. I find they abrade the roof of my mouth if I eat too many at once, but they’re so delicious I don’t care. Plus that heals pretty quickly, anyway.

Cook books!! I am endlessly comforted by reading cookbooks. It’s funny, because more often than not I don’t actually cook any of the recipes I devour from my cook books, but I just love them even so.

Colorful ramekins. I have about six little colorful ramekins, and every time I get to use them it makes me inordinately happy.

My Le Creuset Dutch oven. God, best wedding present ever!! I have been slowly collecting the more affordable crockery by Le Creuset as well, and that also makes me SUPER happy. It’s high-quality, beautiful and useful! Who could ask for anything more??

Most of my kitchen things, to be honest. I love spending time in the kitchen. Be it washing dishes or making them dirty, being in the kitchen, cooking, it is all very soothing for me. I am in complete control. That is my domain. It’s lovely.

Baaaaaaths!!! I love being in the tub. It’s too bad, but the lovely apartment we are living in right now has a terrible tub. Straight back, no lean. But when the need is great, a bubble bath does the trick every time!

Knock-off Zyrtec from Costco. IT’S SO CHEAP AND EFFECTIVE!! Where I live in Oregon, spring and summer and when they burn the feilds in autumn… It’s like torture for my face. So knock-off Zyrtec and honey save my bacon.

Shit, is my list long enough yet? I guess I’d better stop now, or I’ll never quit! Oh wait!! Coffee and tea!! There is nothing like the perfect cup of hot coffee or tea. My tea of choice is Red Rose, and I love light roasts of coffee. 🙂 Ok. I promise I’ll stop now.

Thank you, Jenny for all you do. I hope that you find a million things on all these lists to make your life a happier (or maybe just more comfortable) place, too! I know I have!
Much Internet stranger love.

Oh, and wiiiiiine! I’m lucky to live in the Pacific Northwest where there are a million fantastic local wineries to drink from! Man, I didn’t discover wine until I was in my mid-twenties! But I sure am making up for list time now!!

Lace anchors. They’re little plastic doo-hickies that you put on the inside of your shoes that keep your laces in place. They make it so that you never have to tie and untie your sneakers. Bonus- no big loops or loose laces sticking out, so they make your shoes look better.http://www.laceanchors.com/

Were that it was possible I would buy all the people that have ever been in my life a hug. Those that I love still, those that I loved and lost one way or another. The bullies, the bastards, and the people near and far that for a moment held my heart or allowed me the great honor of holding theirs.
I would buy back the indie bookstore that closed and restore my friend, JR, into the job she loved.
I would buy a day with my grandfather to hear stories that a boy needs to hear of life in Minnesota back in the day.
I would buy a day of health for the patients that I cared for and that have cared for me. I would buy a new knee for my best friend that is having so very much trouble with hers.
And lastly, I would buy a ticket to visit an internet friend. To laugh and learn from her.
p.s Bloggess that last one is to visit you.

Things I can’t live without…
My kindle. It is high on the list of things I would grab from my house if I could only take a few. Reading saved me from myself countless times. “fuck you reality, I’m reading” I love it.

Silence. Its free and wonderful.

Work. Seems odd but I haven’t been unemplyoed since I started working the day I turned 16. And that one makes me money!

I am a stay at home mom of a 5 month old sweetie and thus spend a lot of time with limited access to my normal activities. My Google Nexus 7 is my one handed library, game console, TV, phone, internet center and more. On many nights checking twitter has helped me not fall asleep on top of the baby while feeding her.

I recently discovered fanfiction.net and am addicted. There’s stories for just about every popular TV show (Dr. Who included), movie, or book. My favorite TV show, Stargate Universe, has been off the air for years. But at fanfiction.net it lives on in the stories posted by some very talented writers. Best of all, it’s free!

Fanfiction. I know, it’s the bane of a lot of writers and many people think fanfic is weird & rubbish, etc, but there’s some really awesome fic out there and it showed me that I wasn’t alone in the things I wanted from my life, that I was ok and not weird/strange. I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for reading & writing fic (considering my complete inability to write more than a few thousand words of my own ideas the writer’s block was crippling me) it has provided an escape for me. It was my downtime when I was studying for my degree since I couldn’t really go partying with my friends.

So yeah, I know some stuff is crap, but there is also some really great stuff out there. The light stuff has given me such a distraction when I’ve been really down about my own health and even though I don’t suffer with mental health issues, living with a chronic illness is mentally draining. Fanfic gives an endless supply of lovely imagery and reading about relationships that aren’t all heteronormative makes my lack of love-life feel a little less depressing (which you’d think would be the reverse but I live vicariously through fictional characters lol) and I get to read about the things I like that aren’t published in the mainstream.

Mom with a new baby here…I read your blog during middle of the night feedings. That being said, couldn’t live without the miracle blanket right now. Only way any of us are getting any kind of sleep these days!

What do I like…… The Bloggess. Surviving The World with Dante. Sharon K. Penman novels. And I will be trying the sleeping potion soon as it is currently 4:41 AM and I have been awake since 2 AM crying and wishing I could sleep through the night just once.

Blackberries fresh off the vine. Home grown tomatoes and cucumbers sliced up and eaten. Watermelon while swimming at the creek with my fam. (yeah, I’m a country gal….)

And BTW…Thank you. It’s been a rough few weeks here and you’ve always made me smile. Not a whiny thing here or plea for sympathy…..An honest Thank You.

For my very dry crazcked heals….O’keefe’s for healthy feet…at Lowes! Lol its the thing that worksx for me….its around $6…pricey for me….but the relief is priceless 🙂 …slightly off to find footcream in the construction section of the store…or at that store at all! But its perfect!

One of my recent favorite things is my roomba. I especially love watching my feline overlord interact with it. Holy is fascinated by the roomba but doesn’t trust it.

I also love breakfast food for lunch or dinner, which makes me also love diners.

Finally, I also love independent bookstores. Not that I never shop at Amazon or Barnes and Noble, but now that I live near an indy store, it happens less and less frequently. I’ve even been known to look stuff up online and then order it through the indy store.

The continuous water bowl for our pets. It’s not the one that is filled dumped upside down and in 2 days is slime. It actually has a pump that cirulates the water so no slime and it only needs to be filled 2x a week unlike a regular water bowl that needs to be filled 50x a day.

A bath pillow! I have dry, supremely itchy skin that gets ten thousand times worse in the wintertime. I used Aveeno oatmeal bath packets once or twice a week through the winter, but I hated how leaning my head right against the tub would hurt. I found a bath pillow and it became my favorite thing up until two weeks ago when the seams finally gave out after two and a half years of use. For a product that I don’t think cost me more than $20, that’s a good long run.

There are three things that I can think of off the top of my head that I am grateful for:

Facebook – Okay yes I can keep in touch with friends and family and that’s fantastic but I just love the pictures and sarcastic comments that you find on some pages.

iheartradio app – It keeps me from killing my co-workers, I can just put in my headphones and tune them out 🙂

Fanfiction – I know it’s incredibly geeky but it’s free and I can read stories about my favorite characters. I also have met the most interesting people through fanfiction and it helped me realize that I am not alone. I am not the only one who gets lost in her head sometimes and needs to be poked and prodded to join the real world.

My favorite way-more-useful-than-it’s-price-would-suggest purchase is a cat toy called Cat Dancer. It’s like three dollars on Amazon, and my cat, who has little interest in toys, will chase it for hours if you wave it around for her. And then if you set it down she’ll try to eat it.

Aloe Vera for my hair. I started switching my hair care products from whatever I happened to find in the store when in need to eco-friendly, silicone and sulfate free products. And then I started putting grocery on my head. Like yogurt, honey, egg yolk, various oils. Aloe Vera provided the first wow effect. Unfortunately I started bonding with my plant and now I feel bad about steeling its juicy leaves.

I love my Babe movie. I watch it or just listen to it when I grade papers, clean, and just sit. Truthfully, whenever I can. Somehow the overall “hope” in this silly movie (the mouse chorus is icing on the cake!) just makes the world right again.

So pleased to see Jenny Lewis on the wonderful list of great things.
Sometimes she makes sense of an very odd world. Good call Mrs.

My go to happy place is in books. Any book. All the books. My kindle was a difficult buy (I love paper. books. holding a book) but would now recommend them to anyonbe… especially the travelling types!!

Fancy soaps always make me feel happy when I shower.
Doc Martin is my TV obsession.
Crocheting keeps my hands occupied while I watch the entire Doc Martin series for the 327th time.
And finally, I don’t want to live in a where music by Josh Ritter doesn’t exist.

When my marriage was ending in its slow and painful way, the song “A Better Son/Daughter” became the song that I would sing loudly in the car on my way to and from work everyday, on my way to and from the Barnes & Noble I hung out at so I didn’t have to be home with my (now) ex-husband, and on the way to and from my appointments with my therapist. I found it very therapeutic and identified so much with it (“But you’ll fight it, you’ll make it through, you’ll fake it if you have to, and you’ll show up for work with a smile.”) And I also found such hope at the end (“Your ship may be coming in, you’re weak but not giving, to the cries and the wails of the valley below”). So anyway. I was excited to see it highlighted on your blog post.

Music… Life can often be very very lonely, stressful, and insane, and then music helps bring peace, serenity, and joy in such a huge way. I often buy it used for insanely cheap, too. This way I can have a large collection without spending lots of money.

I am glad I discovered the Pandora radio app. I love being able to listen to exactly what I want, with customizable stations to fit my mood/activity. Duran Duran whilst in a bubble bath? Yes please! I also love the whole line of Johnson’s Bedtime Bath. My son is eleven, but I have enjoyed it since I used to rob his nursery of it. The scent is soooo relaxing. Finally, I love LOVE The Convos With My Two-Year-Old Videos. They make me laugh out loud so hard. I look forward to new ones the way I look forward to new books my my fave authors.

Okay, I got really excited about the Rilo Kiley song and didn’t post my favorites, so here we go:

I love my Nook HD+. I am on a mission to read over 100 books this year (I have read 70ish so far), and this thing makes it possible for me to read anywhere and everywhere I find myself with a free moment.

The Indigo Girls – Their songs served as the soundtrack to my 20s, and now that I am deep into my 30s, I love listening to songs like “The Wood Song” and “Mystery” and considering all that Amy and Emily have seen me through.

Brene Brown and Geneen Roth. Also SARK. These are the women whose books I read when I feel like I am NOT okay. And they make me feel a little more okay (or like I will someday be okay).

750Words.com. I use this for daily, private, unfiltered writing. 96 days in a row and counting!

My dog and my cat. They make living alone feel a lot less like living alone.

Law and Order: SVU. It’s my favorite show ever!

Burt’s Bees lip balm. The regular one is my favorite, followed by the one with the red cap that has some clove oil in it. I try other lip balms but always come back to this one.

Also, along the lines of the “What Should I Read Next?” site, there is http://www.literature-map.com. You put in the name of an author you enjoy, and the site will give you similar authors…the level of similarity is indicated by how close they end up on the literature map to each other.

My “ok corral” for my 1 year old twin girls. Well really it’s called a Playard, you know the child gates to keep the kiddos from going up stairs or what not. This is actually one big circle so they can’t go anywhere, unless your one of my daughters and tries to climb it to get out.
This has been a life savior for me! I wouldn’t be able to get anything done around the house if it weren’t for it. Plus it’s fun to watch my 3 year old son torment them while they’re in there, just kidding, well sort of!

A kitchen sink faucet with a push button sprayer that pulls down. I know, that’s not terribly exciting, and I was loathe to spend money on it, but our faucet was leaking into the wall and making the ceiling in the room below look like it had the pox. And now that we have our new faucet, I really truly don’t know how I managed without it.

I’m dirt poor at the moment. Like, I just earned a $30 paycheck on Friday. (Yay, part-time job at Kohl’s where you can expect completely crap hours.) So lots of these are on my wish list. Mostly because I need them:

Orphan Black Season 1 DVD set. I LURRRRRRRVE Orphan Black. The best show BBC America’s come out with by far.

Clothes. More specifically, I need interview clothes. I only have 1 set, & the shirt in that set I’ve had for nearly a decade. It gets…sticky…when I have more than 1 interview with a company, let’s say.

Basically, I need an entire new wardrobe as all but 4 of my shirts have stains or holes (or both) in them. I have 4 pairs of nice pants I rotate through that I’ve had also for nearly 10 years & haven’t found comparable ones to replace them.

Chocolate gets me through some rough times, although I’ve had such severe anxiety that I couldn’t eat anything recently.

Celtic Thunder. The group that came out in 2008ish. I am obsessed with their songs–particularly “Maid of Culmore” & “The Old Man” & “Tears of Hercules”. They’re so, so good.

I couldn’t live without Doctor Who. My husband and I have learned to tell each other to “Smile in the face of the Daleks”. It has seriously helped through some hard times.

And upon recent discovery, I couldn’t live without my camera. I only just got it this year, but I have found so much joy and my self confidence again thanks to it. It helps me release stress much like my books or journals did when I was a teenager. I love my camera- it’s my second baby. Complete with baby blankets to help keep it safe.

My favorite thing is also free. It’s my local library network! If my local library doesn’t have what I want, another one ships it over, and I have it within a couple of days. My library is what allowed me to watch Doctor Who, Sherlock, and other shows I may not have gotten to watch. It also allowed me access to the wonderfulness that is Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams, Suzanne Collins, and, right now, Rick Riordan. Since I had pretty much no money, it gave me the chance, for free, to enjoy all my favorite things and explore new ones!

the last week, the thing that brought me the most joy was playing trivial pursuit with the family – both realizing how “smart” I used to think the game was (and now we laugh over the stupidity and wrongness of some of the questions) and also getting to see my 14 yo daughter be concerned that I was crying – because I was laughing so hard.

My Kindle addition is pretty fierce. I would spend my entire life savings on books if I could. So, to keep us out of the poor house, I use the public library to borrow Kindle books. Sometimes you have to wait, but it’s like Christmas when your book becomes available.

The Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. Take Neil Gaiman and amp up the wordplay and satire by a factor of 10. You can go from laugh out loud to a moving story end over and over again. I have them all and won’t be without them. Tragically Pratchett seems to be suffering from Alzheimer’s and his writing has more or less disappeared. But we have these gems to make life better. Read ’em 🙂

My dog — on bad days, I wish I could see myself like she sees me.
Also, clean water that’s available 24/7, and ice whenever I want it.
Automatic washing machines — and a husband who uses it!
A reliable car, even if it isn’t the mango color I wanted.

* Dante’s Inferno. Which sounds pretentious, but the concept of getting lost in life & passing through the lowest point in Hell to reach Heaven is something that resonates deeply with me.
* Terry Prachett’s Discworld books (my favourite is ‘The Night Watch’. I could read them over and over…and over and over…and over and over again.
* The Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia. I head there when I need to re-orientate myself in the universe.
* “Solisbury Hill” by Peter Gabriel. Favourite song in the whole wide world.
* Double espressos. The smell of coffeeshops (someone should make a “ground coffee bean” perfume. I’d wear it every day)
* My A4 day-to-a-page diary. I’ve been keeping them for 13+ years – I always write something for each day.
* Buff headbands.

In no particular order:
Natural Ice lip balm
Kindle Fire (for myself and to entertain my kiddos sometimes)
Reusable water bottles (I am a water drinking nut and have a bottle with me where ever I go)
My kiddos (but I think that one is a given)

a) my pen and notebook. I live with PTSD and often it is my pen which knows far better than I how I’m feeling. Once I see it there in my own handwriting, I can start to deal with it. b) my friends. They’ve got me through darkness more than they realise. c) a cat called Maggie who comes to visit me and demands that I take time out and play the string game. I always end up laughing. Then we have hugs. d) the Internet on my phone. Because then, whenever a nerdy question occurs to me, I can look it up right there and then.

Dark Chocolate, Jameson, and Guinness for starters. They’re like, my comfort foods. And Mizuno running shoes. Those things are the best, and if I can’t run, I lose my mind. And my favorite toy is my Canon Rebel T3. Had to save up forever before I could buy it but it was worth every penny. Now I can take really awesome pictures of food. And of my horse.

My favorite thing is my Pandora One subscription. I personlize stations, and it exposes me to new music. I’ve discovered many new (to me) favorite bands this way. I think it costs something like $5 / month. There’s a free version, but it has too many commercials.

I can’t live without my backhoe. It has made the work around my farm not just doable, but easy. It’s going to be instrumental in building that house we are going to start putting in this year. Couldn’t live without it.

The internet of bugs. I keep a vegetable garden, but it’s mostly an excuse, because bugs! You type in a description of a bug you saw – then you scroll down through Google’s image search until you see your bug (or until you start seeing pictures of Taylor Swift or opossums or something – in which case you redo your search terms and try again). You then go down an entomological rabbit hole that transforms your understanding of what goes down in your back yard – here’s an example: death among the parsnip flowers.

I Love the weight watchers spicy string cheese. Its amazing and delicious. Books and goodreads. I read constantly and am always looking for book suggestions and this site helps me a lot. Freezie pops, those tubes of super sweet colored sugar in the plastic that you freeze. I love them more than anything. Its an addiction really.

naomi shihab nye. poems, essays. if you don’t know her go over to her house and introduce yourself. she lives in San Antonio. or maybe read a poem or two first. lots on te web. and she had a couple of cassette tapes out years ago with her wonderful songs. including one about a chicken. i’m serious. you guys need to be friends. or at least reading buddies. tell her margo solod sent you. the crazy thing is i haven’t seen her since 96 but she will probably remember who i am. that’s the kind of person she is.

I love Korres Honey Thyme face cream. My skin is soooo dry and super sensitive and I am allergic to all kinds of things and this is perfect. Except now sephora stopped carrying it and it is so hard to find. Yes I am in love with a face cream

Bath and Body Works body washes. They smell pretty, and twice a year they have this crazy sale where I stock up. Since you only need to use a bit of it at a time, it lasts forever. I have a stash under my sink that should last the rest of the year, until it is time to hit the sale again.

I like to cook, a lot, and my sister is a chef and she introduced me to the beauty that is a good knife. She bought me my first Wustof knife and it has been a love affair ever since. My favorite is the Wustof 6″ chef knife.
Having a really good knife means that the making part of making dinner becomes so much easier. You are also much less likely to cut yourself if you use a good knife that is sharp. So easier food preparation and keeping all your digits whole with the blood on the inside…. win win!!

Thanks for the list! I have to recommend my $20 Origins eyebrow pencil. As someone who wears little/no makeup, I’ve been surprised to learn that you can go from meh to Lady Mary with just a little bit of eyebrow pencil.

Ototik–hard to find, but it’s a tiny plastic loop that you use for scooping wax out of your ear. I used to have to go to the doctor frequently to get my ears irrigated, which then gave me swimmer’s ear. This helps me keep my earwax under control before it causes problems.

Small pocketknife, the kind you get at the neighborhood hardware store, with 2 blades and a plastic case that’s supposed to look like antler or bone or something. Useful for picnics, opening packages, whatever.

Charmin with Aloe toilet paper. I’m not kidding. I can deal with almost anything as long as I don’t have to use any other toilet paper. It’s very kind to your skin. Nothing can make a bad time in life worse than a sore butt.

Moroccanoil Oil Treatment for hair. Seriously love this stuff – you only use a tiny bit a day, so it lasts forever. (I think you can get it cheap at Sam’s)

Shellac nail polish on my toes. YES, expensive, but I adore having my toes done. Paying the extra bit for the shellac polish makes the pedicure last a MONTH. Worth it as I live in Oklahoma & live in sandals.

The Overdrive app for my phone & ipad – FREE & lets you check out books from your library. ALSO FOR FREE. I can visit my library at any time day or night & check out new books! Love, love, love it as I am a voracious reader …

Furminator brush for my dog. These are a bit pricey, but we have a long-haired dachsund that sheds & this brush is amazing at getting rid of hair!

I can’t live without caffeine…iced coffee in the morning a cup of spicy chai tea in the evening. I also can’t live without my Kindle Fire and Crest 3D white toothpaste. Gotta get rid of those coffee and tea stains somehow.

Rice-filled heating pad. My sister-in-law made me this gem for Christmas last year and it is absolutely wonderful! She made it in a long, cylindrical shape that is perfect for draping around a sore neck. Simply pop it in the microwave for a few minutes and voila! you have instant heat therapy (you thought I was gonna say ‘instant rice’, didn’t you?). Also, in desperate times, it could serve as an emergency food source!

Torano sugar-free vanilla flavoring. This is a recent discovery – my daily Sonic trips for a vanilla coke were taking a toll on my wallet, and using the Torano flavoring has made me feel so powerful. 🙂 Take that, addicting Sonic drinks!

You Jenny, you, you, you! I visit your blog daily. Your book is wonderful & I have shared it with many people. The only other thing that I couldn’t live without now is my iPhone. It’s still amazing to me all of the things it can do & that I can do on it.

I cannot live without my Erin Condren Life planner. I love that its an actual planner that I can write in and she makes all of these awesome stickers you can use, including photo stickers for birthday’s. They are colorful, customizable and simply amazing!

Well, first of all, you and your blog, duh! You have taught me that I don’t have to fight my depression on my own and to try to keep it secret. I have my first doctor appointment tomorrow to start the fight! Thank you!!

And British sitcoms. I always know that I can count on an old episode of The Vicar of Dibley or As Time Goes By to help brighten my day!

as stupid as it may be, i love the bejesus out of my kindle. i resisted for so long (I LOVE BOOKS! i like the smell! i like the weight! they were what i grew up with!) but the connivance of having my kindle in my purse at the end of a book and being able to start a new one while getting my oil changed cannot be overstated.

also, my husband. he’s pretty neat. i discovered him almost 2 decades ago, but i’d have a very rough go without him….

Seriously, the Jenny Lewis love for me started with Troop Beverly Hills, moved onto Foxfire and extends to every musical thing she’s ever done. We just saw her come around with The Postal Service last month – TOTALLY amazing. If I could be anyone…I’d want to be her.

Sea Spray from LUSH! I feel like I’ve spent my whole life looking for something to make my sort-of-wavy-sort-of-curly hair look more like curls and less like Hermione, but with out that nasty crunchiness of gel. This is that stuff and I would marry it if I could. Also, it smells like awesome.

Sounds weird but I can’t live without my Sport Line armband. I don’t even run anywhere, but it’s the best ever for walks. I can still use my phone through it and it has a place for a key. It fit my arm when I was way fatter and it fits my arm now too. Just a little thing that makes life better. =)

My grandmother’s poetry. She was a farmer’s wife from the middle of nowhere NC and she taught herself to write haiku. Amazingly enough she was good at it and got published both nationally and internationally (she even placed in a haiku competition in Japan). She died a little over a year ago after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. The disease was cruel and stole her poetry first, while she was still aware enough to miss it. Anyway, when I read her books it is like hearing her again the way she was. She is the reason I love to read and it helps that something so permanent was left behind.

Tom’s shoes – they’re the next best thing to being barefoot, and for every pair bought they give a pair to a child in need. Crystal deodorant. A good cast iron skillet – food turns out awesome every time AND I don’t have to wash it! Burnished bronze cast bird skull pendant from Moon Raven Designs on etsy. Burt’s Bees lip balm. MoroccanOil leave-in hair oil – smells like hippies but makes my hair crazy soft. Dagoba blueberry and lavender dark chocolate. Hall and Oates “You Make My Dreams Come True,” which reminds me of the most important thing I discovered earlier this year, which is true love with a true equal. (Awww.)

Something I can’t live without? Well, if i base it on the “if I were stranded on a desert island” question of life, I would have to go with my standard answer of 1. Hitchhikers Guide trilogy (yes,I know there are actually 5 books but we all know it’s called a trilogy for irony. Good old Douglas Adams!), 2. a gun (so that I can shoot me some tasty animals–this girl can’t live on coconut alone), and I don’t know–3. a partially deflated volleyball named Wilson to keep me company? I’d only pick him because he’s been through the whole stranded on a desert island thing before, and might have some good advice.

I couldn’t live without my horse. Yes so cliche, I know, but he is amazing. I bought him when I was unemployed ( and wasn’t riding or had any idea what I was doing with my life) but it was the best decision I ever made. I feel so sorry for people who don’t have animals. Dogs, cats, horses (I assume birds too, but they freak me out) give unconditionally what no human can.

Sinful Colors nail polish (mainly because it’s cheap – under $2 a bottle so I don’t feel bad getting several different colors). I’ve found that painting my nails doesn’t fix my problems, but it makes me feel content for a moment, and as a bonus I have pretty nails. (This is really weird, because I’ve never been a manicure person… ever.)

Also: Terrible reality competition shows like Big Brother and Hell’s Kitchen. It’s such trash television and I don’t like to tell people I watch it, but it’s a nice escape as long as my husband isn’t in the room to dole out the shame.

Also, for an item I can’t live without: Avon Skin So Soft Bug Spray. Because I literally get bit the SECOND I go outside if I’m not wearing it. If vampires are real, it’s really just a matter of time before I get mauled when I go out at night, because my blood must be super tasty. It’s to the point where my friends call me a tiki torch because if they’re outside with me they don’t get bit because all the bugs are biting me.

My Dog- I have a retired greyhound who is my heart dog and I love him soooo much.
Also, my deck because now I have patio furniture that my wonderful bf gave me for my birthday, so now my Dog and I can hang out in the shade and enjoy the trees. I’ve never had nice outside furniture before and now I can sit out there with a great book and a beer. Wish I had friends that I could invite over to sit with me cause there are 4 chairs! and I only need one for me… 🙂

I love my Soda Stream. I don’t add anything to the fizzy water. I just like fizzy water. And before I got the Soda Stream, I would never have soda water on hand when I wanted some. And I’d be too lazy to go to the store. Now I can have some whenever I want.

Audiobooks – I use them instead of sleeping pills. I close my eyes, curl up for sleep and listen to the story. No anxious thoughts can get ino my head whie I’m listening to the story. Eventually I fall asleep and wake up with no side effects. Ambien made my life hell until I learned this one!

I think I’d have to go with audiobooks. I’ve had trouble for a while now fitting actual reading in–there always seems to be something else that needs done. But audiobooks I can listen to while working, or on my substantial daily commute, or while knitting, or… whatever. Audible’s great for newer stuff, but I also like Librivox for older, public-domain books. It’s a volunteer project and everything it puts out is free. Not being professionals, the quality is sometimes better than others, but in the years I’ve been downloading Librivox content I’ve very seldom found anything that’s so badly-read I just can’t listen to it, and some of it is quite well-done.

Also Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. (Or the generic equivalent, which are identical to the brand-name and thus work just as well.) Scrubbing out my shower when the hard water stains got too bad used to be a pretty tough project; now it takes me, like, five minutes. Can’t believe I didn’t try them before.

Scented epsom salts. I also have pain issues that make me feel like an old lady, so I’ve come to love hot baths with epsom salts, a few drops of oil, and bubble bath. Luxurious and pain-relieving. Especially great with a cup of honey orchid oolong tea and a book.

A heated mattress pad. I moved to Philadelphia from Los Angeles in the middle of winter and was assaulted by the unending cold and lack of central heating (and later, lack of central air, but that’s a different issue). My best purchase ever was this seemingly random thing, which fits over your bed like another sheet, but is electric and has dual controls in case the person (or cats) using the other side of the bed want it hotter or colder than you do.

In the winter I turn it on about 20 minutes before I get into bed and it has an auto-off that turns it off a few hours later so I don’t electrocute myself or melt to death of delicious warmth.

My friend’s book blog: http://nomadreader.blogspot.ca/ She and I have the same taste in books, so this is where I go when I’m looking for something new to read.

My cast iron grill pan. http://tinyurl.com/ljrm8d2 We live in an apartment, so I love being able to grill indoors. There was never anything like this in my house growing up, but I can imagine cooking without it now.

Life Is Good – love their t-shirts, coffee mugs, hats, but most of all their MESSAGE. And that they give so much back.

Love that my 13 yo daughter still tells me she loves me. I know that will probably not continue through the rest of the teenage years, so I take what I can get.

My cat Spot. He is a complete pain in the ass sometimes, but he is the biggest love, too. He greets me at the door when I come home from work and he follows me to bed every night. He has the best purr, and he loves me all the time.

My iPad. I was an early adopter, still have my 1st gen, can’t remember what life was like before, when we’d have to go to the other room to google some inane fact….

I would have to go with my microwavable heat pack (probably similar to your slippers). I can’t sleep most autumn/winter/spring nights without it (but only because my husband refuses to sleep on top of my feet to keep them warm).

If you pick my name for the draw, please donate the card to a local charity of your choice (local to you, not me) that could use it.

Raspberry SoftLips lip balm. It is smooth and silky and tastes amazing, and it doesn’t leave a sticky or greasy residue on your glass (or your boyfriend 😉 ) It’s a little pricier than some other brands of lip balm, but one thousand percent worth it.

Spent way to much time googling these recommendations. For me I can’t live without gardening (best cure for a bad day is checking on my plants), baking/bakeries (will stop any time I see one on a trip…it’s very hard to leave a bakery in a bad mood), and books.

This will sound trite, but I’ve discovered I can’t live without my four year old boy. I was appalled to find out that I was pregnant at 42, miserable for 10 months, then struggled with depression for a few years after he was born. Now, he’s the most amazing gift and is as much a part of me as his two (much) older siblings.

Nutella, that most versatile of spreads. So good with anything from bagels to banana bread. A kick-ass dip for veggies(I’ve heard of this.) or Ruffles. A team player with cream cheese and/or peanut bitter. Plus, with real nuts and skim milk, it’s super, super healthy.

I can’t live without the solidarity of the Internet. Knowing that there are other people who are as unbalanced, insane, addicted to TV, insecure and lonely as I sometimes am has meant a lot. We are a community. Not a community you might wanna live in, but still. One worth being a part of.

As a single mom with a 4 year-old, I couldn’t live without Magic School Bus. I love it when my daughter comes up with great science-y questions we can discuss and that she learns fun words. She told me last week that Ms. Frizzle was “vivacious,” and I am still smiling. I love that she has something to keep her interested for 18 minutes so I can make supper, throw in a load of laundry or maybe even get a shower while is learning under the guise of a cartoon.

i can’t live without…
…coffee – I need coffee to function, really.
…usb-sticks – So darn handy.
…online shopping – It’s just so convenient and the possibilities are endless – which is great for a picky person like me.
…a high intake of yummi carbs – Tried it. Don’t want to go without. Need to compensate with running, though.
…family – No-brainer.
…yogurt. My daily breakfast and go-to snack. The amount of yogurt I eat on a weekly basis is insane!
…mascara. Love the wow-I-instantly-look-so-much-better-effect.
…

My kindle! It’s one of the old school ones that only has books (no movies or stuff for this gal) and I keep it in my purse at all times. I’m a hard working mom, so if I get a free lunch time I like to just grab my kindle and lose myself in a book for a little while! Actually now that I think about it I’d kinda like a fancier version or one of those ipad thingamabobs, but money’s tight yo.

Tervis tumblers (what better way to take my drink to the pool?)
Ritter Marzipan chocolate bar ($2 at Target, makes my mouth happy)
Lysol Wipes with the scrubber side (I know that sounds pathetic, but that scrubber side is genius)

My Nook Color for sure…I LOVE reading, and I still have a deep love for an actual book. But I tend to read books too quickly some times, and the Nook saves me from having to lug a bunch of books with me on trips! =)

My kryptonite is my puppy, Venice. She’s not actually a pup anymore, she’s like 30 in dog years. But she is so happy and loving and playful that she will always be my puppy. She’s a white German Sheppard who is super fluffy and forever shedding white clouds of fur all over my house. But on my darkest days, she is always there with a face lick and a scabby-looking chew toy. She is my drug free cure during my chest-crushing panic attacks.

I am in the process of becoming a foster parent and this will be my first experience as a parent!!! I just discovered a new (to me) blogg Fosterhood- http://fosterhood.tumblr.com/
that just speaks to me…Rebecca is young, funny, honest and just a little bit crazy..just like Jenny. She is making this whole thing seem a little bit less scary and a lot more exciting. I should be finished my classes in August, my home inspections by September and hopefully be a Baby Mama by October!

Much like Neil Gaiman one of the best things I’ve found is Terry Pratchett and specifically the character of Sam Vimes. There is just something appealing about the guy he’s kind of a screw up, has all sorts of problems and yet manages to pull himself up and get on with life.

Earl Grey tea. I switched from coffee a couple of weeks ago (I had always been a tea drinker anyway) and it has been incredibly comforting.

Crochet – I rediscovered it a couple of years ago and have been rabidly hooking since. There’s a lot of joy in making something (anything) with your hands.

Also, this is really stupid, but one of my favorite coping mechanisms is watching youtube videos of soldiers surprising their families when they come home. You get a good cry AND it makes you smile.

I have also found incredible inspiration in the blog of author Michael J. Sullivan, who reminds me when I really hate my writing that other people struggle with these issues, too. Any aspiring/current writer should read the entire thing. http://riyria.blogspot.com/

We got these awesome baby proofers for our cupboards that come with a key. We don’t have kids. We have to cat proof our cupboards because one of our rescues (we have three… plus a rescue golden retriever… my house has a lot of fluff… I wish I had one of those robot vacuum things… I might buy it if I win) has major food issues and can get around almost any other type of baby proofing.

The baby proofers have meant I don’t kill my cat, which is good since he’s one of those things I couldn’t live without.

I love to read. My 8 year old is also becoming a voracious reader, which makes me happier than I can explain. I love love love passing books to her that i still remember reading when I was a kid. The Phantom Tollbooth. From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler. Bunnicula. A Little Princess. I’ve re-read them as well, and sharing them with her just makes me feel all fluffy inside.
Love you, Jenny.

My nook HD, because books & wine! My audible app for books while commuting through Houston traffic. BBC America, SyFy, AMC and pbs for all my favorite shows, netflix for letting me be lazy about buying all the dvds from previous seasons. Once Upon a Time for all the storybook characters new twisted fairy tales, Snow and Charming!!!
My kids joy at doing things they love, with positive encouragement from a set of non-judgemental parents. 🙂

Vloggers on YouTube… Particularly DailyGrace, Felicia Day and the Geek & Sundry Vloggers in general. I’m Bi-Polar and have some paranoia/anxiety issues, so I have a lot of triggers. Watching these silly, funny, geeky people often helps bring me back to a place where I don’t feel so hopeless that all I want to do is sleep. =D

C*O*F*F*E*E and mayonnaise ( not together of course). I recently discovered I like it as a condiment for steamed veggies (I know…kill the healthy benefits of steaming your veggies by dunking,, drowning or drizzling mayo on them…) but I love it! ( not the miracle whip stuff… MAYO)…I’ll take a side of eggs with my fries!

Mary Poppins is my go-to movie when I can’t take the world anymore.http://www.sacredspace.ie/ can sometimes get me to stop freaking out and pray for a minute instead.
And my current addiction is the Forbidden Island cooperative board game. It’s for 2-4 people and you all win or lose together.

My LOL Cat page a Day calendar for my desk at work. After I tear off a page I fold it into an origami throwing star. (See instructions here: http://www.papercrafty.com/2005/how-to-make-an-origami-ninja-star) The when my friends get together for a bonfire we divy them up and throw them in the fire trying to hit a particular piece of burning wood in the fire.

Eye shadows from Sweet LIbertine (http://sweetlibertine.com/) The colors are amazing, the collections are great. She had a Firefly line this spring. How awesome is that?

Amazon instant video, combined with buying myself an Amazon gift card and putting it on my account, so when new episodes of whatever I’m watching come out, I get them automatically. Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Bates Motel, Under the Dome, and Dexter.

“Daisy Kutter and the Last Train” by Kazu Kibuishi. It was my first introduction into graphic novels and I fell in love with it instantly. I remember trying to get my parents to read it and they wouldn’t bite, but I’ve pestered everyone else since then to go and read it. It’s the book I pick up when I’m feeling down and need something kickass to read. This book led to my graphic novel addiction which now consumes two bookshelves…it’s awesome.

My Nook. I am addicted to Netflix (what’s not to love about unlimited Doctor Who, British TV, and cheesy TV) and books. I prefer ACTUAL books and I have a lot (although less than I’d like 😉 )but my nook allows me to drag my addictions along to school, work, and any emergency people ignoring I need to do! I also LOVE anything to do with Harry Potter and Doctor Who. My friends and family are always kinda weirded out when I spot a tiny corner of something across the store, stop, and then immediately investigate just in case I can afford the item! I also love fancy coffee. Not regular coffee since that tastes like dirt to me, but coffee that is half sugar because YUM!

Knitting has made my life better. It’s so much easier to wait for the doctor, the bank teller, the whomever, if I have something to do with my hands. I don’t go stir crazy, and at the end of it I have a washcloth. Win!

So Archer is my happy place… and I think it makes up for my lack of knowing what this Dr. Who phenomena is. Now I have to check out the Venture Bros. for sure. Anything that’s a gateway to Archer has to be good.
Colored pencils and sketch paper
I *may* have a yarn problem
Fine art prints (cause who can really afford the originals?)
Anything that would help fuel my furniture rearranging hobby
Books are a nice escape
Smoothies
Ice cream & cheese cake
Ukulele music

Thank you for sharing the Lavar Burton clip. I’ve been trying to explain this to people over and over, and they’re just not getting it. This will help.
Years and years after everyone else I’ve finally watched Firefly and Serenity, and absolutely love them. I want more!!
And for the practical, the Bissell Pet Hair Eraser Handheld vacuum (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EYFQ28) (also on sale at Best Buy right now) is absolutely amazingly wonderful. With 4 cats and 2 dogs it is in constant use; we’ve tried everything from tape to rollers to those sponges to a Dyson, and this works the best by far.

Supernatural – Coming home and watching the Winchester boys fight evil in all its forms got me through some stressful times at former job.

The Killers (specifically Battle Born) – Listening to this album helped me get through the first few painful weeks when I was starting to try to run.

Oscar the Grouch pajamas – I found them in the pajama section at Walmart, and – despite me being 26 years old – I immediately grabbed them for fear someone else would try steal these fantastic pajamas.

Modest Mouse (Good News for People Who Love Bad News) – This album always makes feel better, even on the worst days.

Goodreads.com – Finally a way to actually keep track of what I’ve read and what I want to read.

My car (a pricey item) – I finally have a car again, after two years without one. My car has allowed me to go visit friends and family I have seen in years. For that reason, it’s the best thing I’v gotten all year.

The new DQ s’mores blizzard – or anything from DQ, really. Also, Purity Made Simple face wash from Philosophy. I have sensitive skin on my face and this doesn’t make me get red hives. Thanks for posting – lots of new things for me to check out!

I’m simple: Dunkin’ Donuts coffee. If I won a gift card, I’d probably buy an ice cream maker, because it’s my husband’s favorite thing. He never asks for anything, and is an absolutely fantastic husband. I’m a pretty good cook, so I’d like to be able to make him ice cream.

But in life, I have more than enough, so I wrote to say that today, your list probably saved a life. It wasn’t mine today, but it could have been 15 years ago. Somebody read that, and called a hotline, and maybe found an answer that will lead to the next answer, and on and on. I’m always impressed by your courage.

– Scrabble. Words with Friends is OK (and conveniently located on a device near you) but the original is still the best.
– Bath towels (otherwise you only end up half dry and it’s a nuisance to figure out which half it should be).
– Mary Roach (the writer, not an odd-sounding, mixed metaphor drug reference). Start with Stiff and go from there.
– Datsun (it’s hard to write Nissan here) Z’s.

I think it goes without saying that Jenny and Allie are at the top of the list!

Lindt White Chocolate Coconut. Target carries it, as do some other drug stores. I can no longer eat regular chocolate (GERD is an asshole), so this discovery was a total Oprah “Aha” moment for me. I was never a fan of white chocolate before, either, but I’ve had to learn to like it. This divine treat from Lindt made me LOVE it.

Pop Corners in White Cheddar. Beats the hell out of all the other popcorn chips.

David Sedaris books in audio format. I love a good audio book (like some of the others who’ve commented). Hearing his inflections makes his already hilarious books even better. Howled through “When You Are Engulfed in Flames.”

Palmer’s Shea Butter Formula with Vitamin E lotion. I go into Babies R Us just to buy this for my car and purse. I don’t even care that I’m paying a buck for 1.7 oz of the stuff. It smells wonderful and really moisturizes. I seriously need to find it in a bigger bottle.

*coconut oil (for making popcorn, oil pulling, skin care)
*red wine
*sunset magazine
*a moleskine journal (i am constantly writing down my thoughts/brainchildren)
i think i could go on a bit longer…. but all of these things make me happy and can be had for little more than a song.

Winter boots. I live in a snowy part of Canada that gets -40 weather. I had put off buying boots because they are expensive but last year I caved and I’ve never looked back. Baffin boots- good to -50, and SUPER comfy. Now on freezing cold days instead of getting cold
Feet full of snow, I but on giant slippers and traipse through snowbanks with ease!

And swimming. Swimming just improves any day, and my Kid can usually sleep after she’s been swimming, which improves MY day, and the next day for all of us. Oh, and dogs! Dogs just make everything better.

Thanks for doing this, Jenny. People with depression need to spend more time thinking about the good stuff. Also people without depression. But you’re totally changing the timeline for good today. The Doctor would approve.

Indigo Wild. Their ZUM products make me swoon. Plus I’m from KC and so are they, which is awesome. It’s all handmade and costs more than I can really afford, but I can’t help myself, especially if it’s their giant chapstick or lavender candles. Mmmm.

These are a must for arthritic feet or sore feet…anywhere in my house I have to stand for a period of time (mostly sinks: kitchen, bathroom)…http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007PQXHMK?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
Sublime Imprint Anti-Fatigue Cobblestone Series Comfort Mat…there are cheaper ones but these last forever!

I saw knitting in there somewhere-I too knit so I don’t kill people. And sewing. When I’m feeling especially murderous and knitting isn’t going to save anyone.
Yoga. I love yoga. For a brief hour or so I am in yoga and no where else.

Well for pete’s sake…I’m just supposed to pick ‘one’? Crime-a-nilly….it’s a toss up. The oversized towel sure sounds grand….but so do the microwave slippers….I could lounge around all day in just those two items of clothing if I had a good book to accompany me. So now I have to add “What should I read next?”. Thank you for such cool recommendations!

Ravelry.com. I took up crochet last winter when we lost our home and my family had to move in with my mother. I hadn’t lived with her since I was 16 and needed something in common with her to make things a bit more smooth. She crocheted, she taught me to crochet. We sit in the living room at night and watch TV and crochet. Without that site I wouldn’t have been able to do as much as I have because we are still struggling and I can’t afford to buy book after book. So, I can’t live without Ravelry. My source for free and reasonably priced crochet patterns and ideas.

My Nikon d5000. I was lost last year when I carelessly tossed it into the back of my minvan for the beasts to trample and crush. The lens bit it and had to be repaired but I love that camera and subject my family to countless photos to preserve the damn memories.

I am not a vain person but I probably would be if I was even remotely pretty…but my friend gave me this amazing restorative oil for my hair. I don’t even know the name of it but it is fantastic. Makes my hair so smooth, silky and shiny and it smells wonderful! I guess I will figure out how to get more when I run out.

Seriously though, captioning. I grew up without it. It has opened up a whole world for me, people today do not realize the importance of captioning which is why shit like NASA’s videos don’t get captioned.

I get the towels, and your chicken (Beyonce) came from wanting more towels, so there is that. I love nice towels or groovy ones. I think I need new towels, actually. Hmmm.
What I think is so super swell?
Special cat food from the vet to keep my Pie (love cat) alive and comfy pajamas (that I don’t get hot in).
There is probably more to that list, but it is Monday morning and my brain isn’t working so well.

Ok this might come across all wrong, and totally suck-uppy, but my discovery that I can’t live without is you, Jenny. I love your weirdness, your hilarious stories, the fact that you don’t hide your dark times but share them with the rest of us troubled souls. I love that when I come to your blog, I feel at home and that if we were to meet in person, you’d understand me. Unless you have a crap-load of time to read all 400+ comments here, you’ll probably never see mine. I’m not truly trying to get the prize, but this IS the perfect time to tell you thanks for being open about who you are and what you struggle with. I love, love that your blog has introduced me to other things I love and would never have discovered on my own. Thanks, Jenny. ❤

I recently ordered Queen Bee refillable brush-on sunscreen. It shows as no longer available on amazon 😦http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005GQOEV4/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Super easy to apply, leaves a smooth powdery residue which my kids tolerate better than the greasy normal sunscreen residue. I wear it under makeup every day. Definitely ideal for melanin challenged people, i.e the fair skinned mutants of the world.

-My B100 vitamins, because being celiac without them makes me homicidal/suicidal.
-My cross country skis, because I live in a country where it is winter 80% of the time. They get me out of the house and out in to the wild.
-My hiking gear, because when it is nice the other 20% of the time I am just a short jump away from mountain bliss.

The ‘no rub’ spray on sunscreen. The tubes of stuff that you rub on is cheaper, but by the time I get the kids and the adults all covered it is an hour later and my hands feel gross and we are all covered in layers of sand and goo that is near impossible to get off, the kids are crying and slippery, sunscreen is running in their eyes (because of the crying); basically leaving the house can be a disaster. Spray and go is worth every extra penny!

Hmmm I discovered your blog a few years ago and have been a faithful reader ever since. Also, The Militant Baker is kicking all kinds of butts to be more body positive. http://www.themilitantbaker.com/ She’s basically amazing and has inspired me to buy my first [pretty well-covering] bikini. I’m not skinny.

I can’t live without:
Coffee
Burt’s Bees lip balm and tomato soap and Origins face mask, when I want to pamper myself a bit
Essie nail polish. I have a real problem in this area.
My small collection of tiaras for the days I need a pick-me-up
My copy of your book, which I scrounged to be able to afford and broke my own vow of “no more buying books for a while” and I don’t regret it at all (it’s even signed by you!)

Project Gutenberg – for some reason classic novels are always printed in tiny font which is also bad for my dyslexia (pick a nation, read its guidelines for filling out your tax return: you now have a bit of idea what it’s like trying to read Jane Austen), but I can read them fine on Kindle. Also: it has Albert Burton Farnham’s Home Taxidermy For Pleasure And Profit.

The BBCiplayer Radio – it’s available to all nations of the world gratis and has some fantastic programs. I’m a big fan of Dickensian spoof Bleak Expectations, and of Benedict Cumberbatch and Roger Allam starring sitcom Cabin Pressure. If you wish to buy them, AudioGo is the website – incredibly cheap at times: I got every episode of Blackadder (not a radio show, but works well nevertheless) for ten pounds sterling.

Not free, but the Virtual Console on Nintendo 3DS. I’ve always loved gaming but couldn’t afford to buy many. My first job earned £15 a day, and I could expect around £2 an hour babysitting. Games cost something like £50, plus I needed to pay the bus fare to get to the shop to buy them. Now they are a few pounds. I’m slowly catching up on all the games I never got to play 20 odd years ago (Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is my current poison).

Also not free: getting all the inhabitants of Animal Crossing to finish their sentences “B’cos wine”. It really does go with everything.

Aside from your blog/book and coffee, I can’t live without my kindle fire. I have three kids so hanging out in bookstores is no longer an option (ALL the dirty looks i get- my kids get excited about books, but forget that books are a quiet toy. There is just no time to explore.)
Without my kindle, I would never have the chance to read all the free books by aspiring authors, I wouldn’t be able to read my new favorite book the absolute instant it comes out, I wouldn’t be able to play temple run…

Atlantic City, NJ. I love the beach during the day, and Margaritaville at night!
Also, the Sleek & Shine line of hair care products from Garnier Fructis – with all the humidity this summer, I’ve had no frizz at all.

I have to agree with Heather and say my Kindle Fire. I resisted the whole e-book thing forever. I’ve always been a reader and thought I’d miss my books. However, I have actually been known to now buy a book on Kindle that I already have the physical book of. Did this with Let’s Pretend this Never Happened as a matter of fact.

Gillian Flynn. I’m currently reading Sharp Objects. I took a little break after reading Gone Girl because I can’t always handle when I book takes over my life the way these two have. I want to read it ALL THE TIME. Unfortunately I have other things that need to occupy my day…. I love the mystery and disturbing nature. Can you imagine how many of her books I can buy with $350?? Kidding, kidding I’ll buy all your favorites….

I’m actually starting to think my CPAP machine is going to be on the list of things I can’t live without, which is not to say that my sleep apnea is so bad that I’d literally die without it, but maybe. The thing is, my quality of sleep has improved SO MUCH and I didn’t even realize prior to using the machine that my sleep wasn’t very good to begin with. I didn’t use the machine last night because I was in a pique about how my mask fits (I need a different one), and I am a damned zombie this morning.

I very much love that Tardis towel, and think the Dalek towel that also appears on the Amazon page would make a delightful companion piece. Doctor Who is indeed spectacular, and if you haven’t already, please watch Sherlock (BBC version) to make your life even more awesome.

Very Berry Starburst: fucking delicious. I have them in a candy bowl on the coffee table. Last night I reached for one while reading and when I got up to let the dogs out, there were 9 empty wrappers. It’s like my soul needed them.

Mary Roach. Her books are full of bizarre information, and she’s got a wicked sense of humor. Her footnotes are awesome.

70’s British sit-com. Are You Being Served? & Fawlty Towers are my bedtime story. Also, Ab-Fab for PMS days.

Gain scented Mr. Clean..it makes me seem way more productive than I am. It smells like I’m always doing laundry.
Second thing I didn’t even know I needed until I found one on sale, a kitchen-aid stand mixer. My butt didn’t need it but man my husband makes the best desserts and goodies, how did I ever live without the constant flow of sugary goodness.

So…I was almost done with my list and my browser crashed. *sad face* But….because I love the happy little community here SO MUCH, I’m going to write it all over again. And if it crashes again, I’m sorry you guys, but I’m done.

-Orange Tic Tacs (so soothing for whatever reason. I loved them WAY before that Paulie Bleeker kid.)

-Microwaving Peeps. They inflate like, 3 times their normal size and get all gooey and melty and delicious.

-Red Hot Chili Peppers. Especially the song “Wet Sand”. Perfect for those moments when it feels like your brain is going to break.

-Xanax. But we all knew that already.

-DVR

-Jeopardy

-Paint

-Beads

-My hot glue gun

-How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. He even tells you how to store fruits and veggies. I’ve been storing so many things wrong for so many years!

-retailmenot.com- best place online for coupon codes. I never buy anything on the internet without checking here first. (Fun fact- there is a $20 off $100 code for Think Geek til the end of the month!) 🙂

-questionablecontent.net- best webcomic ever. Plus, the forums are full of supportive and wonderful folks. ❤

-creditkarma.com- I used to engage in WAY too much retail therapy and then decided not to pay any of my credit card bills. After signing up for Credit Karma, I raised my credit score 145 points in 2 years. Now it's
-almost- normal again!

Hannah Hart”s youtube channel, I actually prefer her more serious channel most of the time, filled with great advice and hope.

ALso I was in Chicago this past weekend for roller derby (I’m from Canada) and we found this grocery store called Mariano’s…you could drink a beer while you shopped! They had gourmet popcorn and sushi and salad bar AND YOU COULD DRINK AS YOU SHOPPED! I have to go to a special store just to get booze and there you can drink and shop! Made me want to move to Chicago just so I could go to that store

African Black Soap. I have a body wash by Nubian Heritage and an all-purpose wash that I use for my face by Alaffia which also contains peppermint oil. It’s good for eczema and acne and is just awesome all around. Oh, and jojoba oil. The oil cleansing method is good stuff.

Alegria Shoes. My sister got me hooked on them. They’re a bit pricey, but I always buy their closeouts. They’re completely adorable and they’re really aimed at nurses who are on their feet all day. I am not on my feet all day, but I do have hip and knee issues and these shoes have literally changed my life. They run a little narrow, as an FYI for anyone that looks into them, so I get the wide option, but length is spot on.

P.S. I haven’t started watching Dr. Who yet. I KNOW. I don’t have Netflix (again, I know), so I’m afraid I’d go over to my sister’s house to watch your suggested season and then never leave. She’d have to pry the remote from my fingers as I sit glued to the couch with her dog, Penny, at my side. I’m sure Penny would be a Dr. Who fan as well.

1) Girls with Slingshots. It’s brilliant and funny and just that bit beyond normal that makes things fantastic.
2) Handknit socks. I love making them and I normally can’t stand socks. I make them for other people, too. If I knew you in real life, you’d already have some.
3) My stress squeezy Adipose (think Doctor Who episode where everyone is mysteriously losing weight). I call him Herbert.
4) Handmade soaps from my local farmer’s market.
5) Smithsonian Magazine. I feel so much smarter for it.
6) Double entendres

I just frightened myself. I was scrolling down the comments reading, with the plan to write about how I love audiobooks when I came upon a comment by – Kelly R. – who loves audiobooks. My heart literally stopped. Then I realized I didn’t have Alzheimer’s and in fact this was another Kelly R. who also loves audiobooks…
Another thing I love is my electric couch throw. After a hard day I love to crawl under it with the tv clicker in hand and my iPad….

I cannot live without fruity Burt’s Bees lip balms (mango and grapefruit are the yummiest), yarn and knitting needles — will make my own in a pinch, Lush’s Flying Fox shower gel, my kitties (Fuzzybutt, Fuzzypants, and Stinkyface), and my ten-dollah coffemaker with Green Mountain coffee in it. Also my Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel and Candy Crush. Add in a box of Franzia Chillable Red and it’s a perfect weekend.

I can’t live without bleach. I put it into spray bottles with some water and I can pretty much clean anything in the house. With 2 kids, 2 dogs and a cat I am always cleaning something. Plus I am really cheap and this saves a ton on all the pre-bottled cleaners.

Well, you already listed a ton of my favorite things, and I almost fell out of my chair when I got Venture Bros, because NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THEM IN MY WORLD. My hubby dressed up as the Monarch on Halloween and nobody at the party got it. We clearly need better friends.

I couldn’t live without the e-reader apps on my phone – Kindle and Overdrive. Library books in my pocket – always! I will never again have that crushing feeling of sitting in a lobby knowing there is a good half hour wait before my appt and knowing I forgot my book.

And my Acorn spa slider slippers. Cuz I have sucky feet and they have saved me.

Oh dang, there are many things I feel like I can’t live without, though I probably could, just not as happily. Since I was just camping, I’ll say I’m today most grateful for my therma-rest mattress pad because my poor back would not handle sleeping on the hard ground anymore.

It keeps my passwords everywhere strong and unique, and the best part is I don’t have to remember them. It’s also a secure place to stash things you need to remember, like padlock combinations, and software license keys. I heart it a lot. (I almost wrote “alot” but then I remembered that you were Jenny, and not Allie, so it wasn’t as funny) (not that it was that funny) (I’m done now)

my favorite treat is a gallon of sweet tea from our local Jim-N-Nicks BBQ. it is about 3 bucks a gallon and is so sweet that i have to mix it with water to handle it. it gets me through those moments when i want to give my children away to a zoo. i’d still visit them, and throw them peanuts, but then they could truly go wild without all the mess at home. i think, though, if i had a tardis towel i might be even happier when i drank the tea.

Old diaries. I was given an incredible gift of a 1882 farm wife’s diary, and reading it was such an incredible experience – just living this ordinary woman’s life with her, day by day, holding the book she wrote in. Just bought another from the same period and I can’t wait to read it. I suspect I will be buying these for the rest of my life.

I can’t live without the dongle that allows me to move pictures off my SD card to my iPad. I take a lot of photos and this little thing has saved me so many times from deleting photos to make room for more.

I can’t live without my Nalgene bottle. It helps me so much in keeping track of how much water I’m drinking. Also, Burts Bees lip balm. I know its a tiny bit more expensive than your average Chapstick, but it works soooo much better, and comes in some yummy flavors (like pomegranate!).